


Danganronpa Despair Roulette/Hopeful Strategy

by JorrynTheKrux



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types
Genre: Interactive Fiction, Murder Mystery, Mystery, new killing game
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-28
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-02-24 19:21:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 12
Words: 20,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22003147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JorrynTheKrux/pseuds/JorrynTheKrux
Summary: Welcome, one and all to this new interactive killing game! Written from various perspectives, this is my first uploaded work so please be gentle ;)Join Jack Clubs, Samwell Libra and many more as they explore their new prison, and are launched into a sinister game by a robotic bear!Please beware, spoilers may appear in later chapters for the Danganronpa franchise.
Kudos: 11





	1. Prologue

Hey, it’s dark in here. Tun on the light.  
…  
What’s that? A new killing game? Neat, it’s been a while since my last one.  
…  
So, this one is different? I see. Well then, I best be ready. Don’t want any nasty surprises, do we?  
\--  


#### Perspective 1: ???

  
_…It’s dark. Where… What… What happened?_  
I tried to gather my thoughts as I stumbled for a lightswitch. My leg hit something hard… A desk, maybe. _Am I in a classroom?_ The pain throbbing in my mind worsened as the lick flicked on. A school. I slowly let my eyes adjust, and took a breath. “My name… My name is Jack Clubs. That’s right. And I’m at this school because… I just graduated high school.”  
Just to be sure I was okay, I ran over a few more details of myself, as if giving an expositional monologue.  
“I passed with pretty good grades all around. I’m no kid genius or whatever, but I took a range of subjects because I wanted to be good all around. I seemed to do pretty well in Maths, as well as the subjects surrounding it, like Physics.” I took a breath, continuing my monologue. I noticed my surroundings while I did so. “The drawing of the bear on the blackboard reminds me of my Art Studies, which I barely passed. I also did Law, which is… Hey, wait, what’s with the windows?”  
I’d only just noticed, but the windows were lined with barbed wire. _Is this some kind of joke? Or… Did I do something dumb and get put in the delinquent’s class?_ I couldn’t remember anything I’d been caught doing recently. I racked my brain for answers…  
“…Hope’s peak academy. That’s what I was forgetting. Is this it?” I looked around at my dilapidated surroundings. “What a dump… Still, I guess the teaching here is the main thing.” I tried the door, only to find it locked. Immediately, I began searching for clues.  
_The obvious place to look is the teacher's desk, maybe there’s something for me to find._ I checked, and in the first draw I opened was a letter addressed to me. I couldn’t find anything else of note, save for some textbooks, so I opened up the letter. Inside was a key.

**Dear Jack Clubs, The Ultimate Gambler.**

I stopped as I read this line. Nobody presently knew about my late-night gambling sessions, so it was odd that this would be my title. I had originally applied as the ultimate Jack of All Trades, or the Ultimate All-Around Specialist, but I suppose being the best at being okay at things isn’t exactly ultimate-worthy.

 **Welcome to your new semester at Hope’s Peak Academy. Here you will be tested for your talent, which will be studied extensively. Available are a range of activities, including our talent share programme, in which…**  
Normal extra studying B.S. I thought, skipping ahead. 

**We hope that you enjoy the room we have prepared for you, as well as our common rooms and dining hall. Unlike the storybook school this one was based on, each group of 8 students will be living together, so please do try to make friends with those you are placed with. Transfers are available, however please keep these at a minimum where necessary.  
You are room number 7 in the east wing of the first floor. A key will be issued after the entrance ceremony in the gymnasium. Please bring this letter with you as to avoid confusion.  
Attached is a copy of your timetable. Please note that these are tailor-made to boost the talents of all involved, and some students may be placed in… **  
I can’t remember the rest from there. I do remember, however, the drawing of the bear, almost exactly like the one on the chalkboard. At the end, the name of the headmaster, Atlus Waterdeep was crossed out. Next to it, in a messy scrawl…  
Your headmaster, Monokuma!

 _…The marketing here is atrocious. Using some dumb mascot instead of relying on reputation, what kind of school did I come to…_  
But it’s true, Hope’s Peak does have an incredible reputation already. Some dumb anime show inspired the creator, who spent allot of time and money building this place. Once people got past the gimmick, they realized that this place has excellent facilities, and the staff were actually incredibly competent. As far as I’d heard, the school was incredibly well-run. Still, it was new, and so soon after the last game. It was bound to end like this.  
As I finished reading the letter, seeing no attached timetable, there was a click from behind me. I turned, and found the door was ajar. Strange, but I took the hint and stepped out. I couldn’t see anyone, but my eyes were drawn to the pack of playing cards a metre or two ahead of me. I made sure to pick them up, for aesthetic if nothing else, and began heading to the gym.  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Author note:  
Hi everyone! My name is Jorryn, and this is the first thing I’ve written on here. Trying to keep it concise here, let me know how it’s going!  
I’ll be pumping out a little more soon, so don’t worry if you think this is actually good. I’ll also be doing a strawpoll at the end of each burst of pages to see where people want the story to go next, to keep this interactive. Sometimes, choices may have a significant impact- you could save someone by the choices you all make.  
And, a final note, I’ll be using italics to demonstrate when the protagonist is talking. I’m planning on having a couple pov changes, because I like all of my characters too much to let just one of them be the hero. Be sure to put any theories down in the comments below, I won’t spoil anything but I do enjoy reading them. If there’s any especially fun ones, I may even post them at the end of the chapter. Anyways, let me know what y’all think!  
Sincerely,  
Jorryn.


	2. Prologue Part 2

My tension eased slightly as I made my way there. The school looked as badly looked-after as the classroom, but otherwise it seemed to be a nice place.  
_The athletic students must make upkeep impossible here. I mean, If I had to take care of the Ultimate Brawler or whoever, I’d give up cleaning too._  
I wondered about my classmates as I searched for a map of this place, noticing my growing need to use the bathroom. I found myself in what looked like a large main lobby, a taller part of the school with a balcony along each of the three stories. The balcony walls, at least, looked sturdy. A large wall of plants grew along one wall, being watered by an automatic system. From there, I found a map and took note of the layout. The gym is in the northern sector was where most of the Ultimate facilities were, so I ducked into a bathroom along the way.

While washing my hands, I looked into the mirror.

_I look like crap… When did I last eat? Or sleep in my own bed? It can’t have been that long…_

I really did look bad. The bags under my deep blue eyes were big enough to be too noticeable, and my almost-black hair was so dry and messy, I almost looked homeless. Despite this, my clothes appeared to be brand-new. I was wearing the school’s blazer over a checkered black-and-purple shirt, a pair of black trousers, and ordinary sneakers. Plain as plain plains, aside from my scar. A small scar distinguished me from a background character, only around five centimetres in length on my face. Most people didn’t notice it until it was pointed out, but it still always bugs me. I put my ring back on, a small single-band black ring with a symbol of a Club engraved in it.Still, I have a Poker player’s face. A piercing stare, even if I look like I’m about to die from hunger. 

_…Okay, that’s enough staring at myself. Time to…_

Suddenly, I heard the door swing open. “Kon’nichiwa! Kokoni dareka imasu ka?” A loud voice derailed my train of thought. “Hello?” I yelled back. _Male. Roughly my age. Deep voice, probably pretty strong._ As predicted, a strong-looking boy turned the corner, wearing some traditional Japanese-style clothes with a katana at his side. I took a step back-  
“Ah! Sumimasen- Ehhh, nihongo ga hanasemasu ka?” I quickly translated what little I knew in my head. He was talking quite quickly, so it was a bit of a struggle.  
“Uh, iie. Aigo ga hanasemasu ka?” I replied. To be honest, it was more “Eeyay. Eyego ga hana-sema-suka”, but he mostly understood.  
“Iie. Kusuo…”

(From here on out, I’ll translate the parts I understood. If I'm leaving it untranslated, I'm not sure exactly what he said. I’ll put anything in another language in bolded text for you all, else it'll get confusing fast.)  
He seems straightforward enough, and isn’t trying to kill me. **“Uh… You’re a student?”** I asked.  
**“Yes. This is the Ultimate Academy, right?”** He replied. I nodded. **“I’m (some kind of, I assume Ultimate) Samurai. My name is Sanae Saiko. Nice to meet you.”** He bowed at the end of his sentence.  
**“My name is Jack Clubs. The Ultimate Gambler. I hope we get along well.”** I returned his bow. Better that we get along if we’re studying together.  
**“Where is everybody?”** He asked. I shrugged, waving my hand for him to follow me.  
“Gym.” Is all I said as I led the way.  
Student from abroad. Looks confident enough. If we end up in the same classes, it might be worth picking up Monolingo Japanese again. Extrovert like this might get lonely if nobody knows what he’s saying. He kept talking at me, even though I clearly had no idea what he was saying.

 **“…I don’t understand. Where is everyone?”** he asked, a hint of worry in his voice.  
**“No idea.”** I answered. “I just woke up here.” I continued in English, hoping he’d understand. He clearly did not. Looking around, I took in the North Wing of the academy. Unlike the main lobby, there was a ceiling here, so I couldn't see the floors above me. Lockers were lined up in the middle of the corridor, the rooms surrounding it appearing to be for the more athletic students; I could see signs for activities like Archery, Weightlifting, Fencing... although most rooms were locked, I could see that they mostly appeared to be storage rooms for supplies, with the occasional space for certain activities. Finally, I saw the sign for "Gym". I took a deep breath as I opened the door.

“Ah, there.” I said, seeing the fourteen students ahead of me. I hardly recognised most of them, save for… Him.  
“That should be all of us. Eight to accommodations, two per year, right?” He said as we came through the door. Not a second glance at me. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Sorry for the slight cliffhanger, I don’t want to unload all of the characters and names and Ultimates juuust yet. Not certain about the format for Sanae, either, so I’ll let you all know if that changes.  
Planning to release one page per day alongside writing some uni work. Once we finish introductions, I’ll leave a strawpoll for what to do next.  
I hope you all enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writing it. It’s going to be kinda slow for this part, so apologies, but once we’re diving into the game I guarantee it will be much more exciting 😊  
Let me know what you think, I’d love to hear any and all thoughts!  
Sincerely,  
Jorryn.


	3. Prologue Part 3

_Samwell Libra. That bastard._ I glared at the boy ahead of me who had already taken charge. _He actually made it in. Bastard…_  
“Well, let’s begin introductions while we wait. Please, call me Sam. I’m here to be the ultimate Law student. I was allowed to take a real case, which served as an entrance exam.” The boy was about 5 and a half feet tall, looking all-around perfectly average. The sleeves on his collared shirt were rolled up, and his tie was loose- a more casual look than when I’ve usually seen him. He was only telling half of the truth, however. After helping the police take down a high-profile gang member, he asked to take the trial. It was true that he used it as an entrance exam, but…

“I best go next. I’ll keep it short.” A rather handsome-looking young man spoke up next. “My name is Jamie Swift. You probably know me from a couple movies I’ve done already. I’m the ultimate actor. I’m happy to sign things if you want, but… Well, we’re all ultimates here, right?” He gave a small laugh as he finished.  
_True, I do recognise him… But only because he played the role in the Poker movie. Richard Blackjack, who never lost a game. The plot pissed me off, but his acting was pretty good. He’s hiding something, though… I can tell that much. Probably just playing nice._

At this point, Sanae gave me a light jab in the back. I quickly began translating as much as I could, and continued while people spoke.  
“Ah, and this is my friend!” Jamie waved a man over. _Not a man, I think that’s a personified brick wall._ “Introduce yourself! C’mon!” Jamie stood with a big smile on his face, moving his silky blond hair out of his eyes. Already, people were getting incredibly lively. Two girls at the back were giggling about something.

“Yeah, yeah. The ultimate Bodyguard, Twice-Dead John. I’ve been shot four different times, stabbed a bunch, beaten half to death… And I’ve been brought back from certain death twice, if anyone was wonderin’ ‘bout the name.” All liveliness immediately died. I only translated the name for Sanae. “When I’m not dying, I like working out, drinking, and darts. There’s to be no bullyin’ here, unless you wanna get hurt.”  
“In that case…” A slightly older looking girl, perhaps 19 or 20 spoke. “Jane McFarlane. Ultimate Barkeep. Like cookin’, drinkin’, and I’m good at hospitality shit. Stock inventry, stuff like that. Glad to meetcha.” I couldn’t place the accent. Might have been Irish, or Scottish… Maybe Welsh? Regardless, she was a fairly attractive-looking girl, quite tall, with a pair of half-moon glasses over her brown eyes. She seemed fairly relaxed, despite everything that was happening.

“Oh, food~ Music to my ears!” Meanwhile, a rotund gnome-looking man nearby spoke up. “The ultimate chef, Angelo Bianchi. My parents moved here from Italy once I was born. I’ll make sure none of you go skipping meals!” He gave a hearty laugh. There isn’t much to say about Franco at this time. He seemed to me to be pretty much your generic Ultimate Chef, giving no indication that he had any thoughts whatsoever that didn’t concern food.  
“Oh! Oh! What about me!” A rather excitable young girl from the back called out. Everyone turned. Completely different to everyone else who had spoken, she was wearing a leather jacket, a pair of tight jeans, and a set of goggles. Her dark brown hair was in a tight ponytail, the actual tail had very obviously been dyed white. You’d assume she was some kind of biker from the outfit, but she managed to give an air of complete approachability by sheer force of personality. “Sarah Goodwin! Call me Windy! I’m the ultimate pilot, so keep your eyes up for me at all times!” She gave a huge grin and a thumbs up. A couple boys at the back began whispering. I should stay away from her. She looks like a pain to deal with. Too loud.

The timid-looking girl next to her had taken cover behind someone else, a rather distant looking girl wearing…  
_…Wait._ Eyes all drifted towards the girl. Her clothes were tattered, like she’d just picked them up off the road on the way to school. Not only that, but all of her- she looked like she’d just lost a pretty brutal fight.  
“…I’m… call me…” she paused for far too long. “…may…” We all waited for her to say anything else.  
“Hey, uh… Are you-“ John spoke first, but was cut off by Sam.  
“It’s no use, she was like that when I got here. Poor girl was just lying on the floor. Can’t seem to get much out of her.”  
“D-Do we just cont- inue?” the timid-looking girl asked. “I- Then- I’m Dani, the Ultimate Dungeon master, I run tabletop games and write stories, I also produce maps and content for allot of TTRPGs, I’m really good at building large, intricate--“ She was turning red at this point, talking far too quickly for any of us to catch most of it.  
“Typical nerd girl junk, then.” Someone at the back said. He waved. Wearing a colourful hooded jacket under his school uniform, with headphones on, the boy had pastel purple hair. At that moment, he was sitting with his arms folded against a wall. “My friends call me Dymo. Ultimate programmer. Let’s keep this moving fast.”  
“What's the rush?” Jamie asked, a little too politely. “Isn’t it important we all—”  
“Get to know each other and junk, yeah, I getcha. Anyone here got their phone on them?”

The room went silent. We all checked our pockets- all except May and Sanae- to find what looked like e-books.  
_Oh no. This is one of those places that’s run by a complete technophobe, isn’t it? Even though most of my talent comes from online poker games... What does he expect me to do, host home games every night?_ Is what I told myself.  
“Exactly. Isn’t anybody the least bit suspicious?” Dymo made an excellent point. “From what I can tell, we all wake up, feeling like we’ve been kicked around a few times. We’re the only folks around. We come to their entrance ceremony, nobody greets us, we just start introducing ourselves. I had shit to do today, but for some reason, there’s no way out. Six feet of solid concrete where the door should be. Anything weird about that?”  
We were all silent. _It’s true. It’s weird. But…_  
“Why does it have to be bad?” Asked Sam. “I mean, maybe this is going to be some sort of escape room?”  
I hid any sign something might be wrong. _…No. He’s right. Something’s off, and Sam knows it, too. He’s got his hand in his pocket, he only does that when he’s lying._  
I considered speaking up about my concerns. _Better to lie for now. It's pointless panicking everyone for now._  
“Yeah, what’s the problem?” I spoke up, shuffling the cards I had picked up earlier. “The place isn’t as clean as I thought it’d be, but as far as I can tell, this is the real Hope’s Peak academy.” The way I had shuffled the deck, I had kept a royal straight flush on top. I threw all five out and they landed face-up in front of me. “Let the cards fall as they may.”  
…Is what I want to say. I messed the trick up. As the cards fell, the Queen of Hearts had been swapped with the 9 of diamonds, and an extra card, the 2 of clubs, was thrown out with them. “…Well, I messed that up. Hey, I’m no ultimate magician.” I gave my best laugh, but it came out incredibly wooden.

“Sorry, who are you, exactly?” Dymo asked.  
“Jack Clubs, Ultimate Gambler. Currently have 400,000 dollars profit in gambling.” I said, proudly. It was a lie, it’s more like 750,000. But best to come off worse than I actually am. “I turned 18 yesterday.”  
Jamie looked at me, wide-eyed. “You’re that good!?” he asked.  
“Nah, I’ve been using my father’s online gambling account until a week ago. Thanks to the school, I got my paperwork processed for yesterday.” I gave a slight smile. Jamie immediately looked disinterested. “And behind you?”  
“Ah, this is Sanae.” I pushed him forward, and began translating.  
**“Hello, I am Sanae Saiki. Nice to meet you all. I hope we get along well. I am the ultimate Samurai.”** He said, completely oblivious to everyone's concerns. He bowed as he finished.  
“Sanae doesn’t speak English, so I’m trying my best to translate. If anyone’s better at Japanese than me, go for it.” There were no volunteers. “Figures.”

“Stop leading us off-topic.” A voice cut through all of ours. A girl, dressed similarly to Sam, stepped up. A school shirt with a loose black tie was visible underneath a long coat with a high collar, a trilby covering her eyes, which swept the room. “Ultimates or not, we have no idea how we got here. That much is cause for concern. The girl over there looks like she was hit by a truck. There has to be more to this. Unless I'm missing something, of course, in which case, would you care to enlighten us?”


	4. Prologue Part 4

“Hey! There’s no need to be so pessimistic!” Twice-Dead John retorted. “Why can’t this just be a fun—”  
“Does she look like she’s having fun to you?” the girl replied, calmly. She nodded over to May. “Not everyone gets beat up for a living. Even pretty-boy over there looks like crap.” She pointed to Jamie Swift as she finished.  
“That’s what I’m saying.” Dymo chimed in. “Can we really trust this situation?”  
“That’s enough.” Sam said, with an air of finality. “…Yeah, you’re probably right. We’re probably all in extreme danger. We’re not superheroes or anything, but Ultimates are still highly sought after. This whole thing is bad news.”  
I sighed. I didn’t want everyone to panic, but I could feel everyone about to freak out.  
“But, that’s not a problem right this second.” Sam continued. “We need to know who we all are, regardless. Which reminds me;” Sam turned to the girl who had spoken. “…Dane Brindle. Good to see you again. You made it in okay?”  
The air was heavy, but Sam spoke as if meeting someone on the street. The girl, whose name was apparently Dane, nodded.  
“…Fine. You make a good point… Okay then. My name is Dane Brindle. I’m the Ultimate Detective.” She gave a sweeping glance across the room. “I use the pronouns they and them. Follow my lead, and you’ll all survive whatever’s in store. Go off on your own, and see how long you last.”  
_Oh, okay. That’s kinda weird, but… Fuck, we’re ultimates. Is anyone here really normal?_ I latched on to something insignificant to put my mind at ease. Jamie seemed to have the same idea.  
“Oh-kay, isn’t that—” he began. John must have felt that he was about to put his foot in his mouth, and put a large hand on his shoulder. Sam looked back to see the not-quite-gentle glare John was giving him, and quickly finished “Completely fine. So, boss, who’re we missing? I lost track.”  
Dane nodded. They were hard to read, due to being covered up so much. “Okay, let’s blast through these. You.” They pointed to someone at the back, who had been attempting to blend into the shadows. A small girl popped out, her face hidden behind an aesthetic surgical mask. “Teehee, you saw me? Aww. Welp, I’m the Ultimate Thief, Ellen Brassingham! Glad to meet you all!” Sam, Dane and Jamie all looked disapprovingly at her title, but Dane carried on.  
“Shorty over there?” they asked. Wearing a headband over dark hair, various symbols inked into their body, a small girl was quietly meditating. “Please. Call me… Francine. A spirit medium. I am known as the Ultimate Psychic. I offer many supernatural—”  
“And you?” Dane asked, dismissively, looking at the thin man next to her. He had a calm demeanour, but had gone white as a sheet as the discussion carried on. He didn’t speak. “…Okay, I’ll do it, then. The Ultimate Aromatherapist, Placido Serenity.”  
“W-Wait! How do you know—” He began to yell, but Dane held up a hand.  
“I looked all of you up over the summer. Some of you were difficult to find, but most of you engaged in some form of public service or another.”  
“O-Oh…” Placido timidly withdrew.  
“And finally.” Dane pointed to a young girl, wearing a pair of gloves. At her side, a first-aid kit was almost bursting with what must have been supplies.  
“Oh, me? Julia Ravenn. The Ultimate Medical Student. Expert in biology—” Julia didn’t finish her introduction. From speakers all around the room, a shrill laugh boomed around the gym.

“Puhuhu… Finally! It took you so long to finish introducing yourselves… It was unbearable!” The high-pitched voice jeered. We all looked around.  
“Be ready.” Dane said. “…So it’s like I thought…” They noted to themself. Eerily upbeat music began playing from the speaker.  
_What the hell…?_  
Sanae drew his katana, John looking around for danger. Many of us stood, looking around for somewhere to hide. Placido looked like he was about to have a heart attack. Julia readied her first-aid kit. Bursting from behind a table in front of us, a small black-and-white bear, looking exactly like the drawings from the classroom leapt into the air and landed in front of us, leering at us, then letting out a maniacal laugh.  
“Puhuhuhu! Surprised?”  
“Everyone careful. Danger could come from anywhere!” John announced.  
“Huh?”  
**“I’ll help!”** Sanae yelled, assuringly.  
“Huh?!”  
“…cute…” May contributed, still lying on the ground.  
“Huh?!?”  
“Who’s stuffed bear is this? We don’t have time for—”  
“HEY! Shut up, all of you!” The bear’s yell silenced everyone. Everyone did a double take. Placido’s coming heart attack passed. Finally, Jamie laughed.  
“…Whose idea of a prank is this? Dane, did you plan this? Jeez, you had me worried for a second.”  
“Hey, be care—” Dane tried to interject, a bead of sweat dripping down their face.  
“Careful?” Swift picked up the bear with one hand. “What, is this cute little toy a choking hazard? Are its claws real? Is it secretly a bo-- Oh fuck!” the bear was making a beeping noise, and swift quickly threw it away, just in time for it to explode. Another one walked in from behind the table, looking much more solemn.  
“Aww, I must be losing my touch… Nobody was even looking at my entrance…” The bear said, gloomily. All eyes were on the bear now. “Well… Let’s see…” It pulled out some pieces of paper out, and began reading.  
“Let’s see… Come out… Get ignored… Get picked up… Die and be reborn… Okay, so now we’re…”  
“(Is he… Reading from a script?) (How unprofessional…) (I really hope this is a prank…)”

“Puhuhuhu!” The bear laughed again. “Welcome, students, to your new school! Here at hope’s peak academy, there’s only a few rules!”  
“Hey, wait!” Sam tried to interject.  
“In short, I expect you all to live well in your new accommodations! You’ll all be living in this school together, and furthering your talents as you do. You’re encouraged to get along together the best you can!”  
“H-Huh?” Dymo exclaimed. “That’s… Pretty neat, actually. Had me worried for a minute…”  
“All communication with the outside world will be cut off, of course.” The bear continued.  
“B-But, won’t three years without—” Julia began asking, but…  
“Huh? Huh? HUH?” The bear yelled, before breaking into a maniacal laugh. “THREE YEARS? Oh, that’s great!”  
“…Hm.” Dane let out a sigh. “I guess you want us to play along. Fine, I’ll bite. How long are we staying here?”  
“Aww, it’s no fun if you’re acting… Well, to be honest… You’re never leaving.” The bear answered.

It was pandemonium. No, rather… The reactions could be split three ways. First, you had those of us who already knew what might be happening. Me, Dane, Sam, and Dymo. We all expected as much. Then, there were those who didn’t know what was happening. May was almost silent, I thought she might be asleep at this point. Sanae, well… I couldn’t translate anything that was happening. He must have thought this was just the entrance ceremony. Angelo seemed to think this was all part of the escape room.  
And then… Everyone else. Nine students, all looking to each other in shock. Crying. Some screaming. Cheering each other up. Ellen already had four plans to escape she was going through with everyone.  
“…Ahem.” The bear cleared its mechanical throat, and everyone was silent. “If you want to leave so badly, we do have one graduation option.” Dane was beginning to sweat. _Oh no. What do you know? I don’t want to kn-_ “If you want to see the outside world again… You just have to take the graduation exam.”

“An exam?” Jamie asked. “Oh, well, for sixteen ultimates like us, how hard can it—”  
“Exactly! It’s so simple, anyone could do it!” The bear teased. _No. Shut up. It's a trap. Let us stay here in peace until we die. I don’t want to know._ “All you have to do iiiiiiis…”  
The bear’s single red lightning-bolt eye lit up, an almost sexually excited smile coming across his face. “Kill someone, and get away with it. Kill someone without being found out, and you can go wherever you want!” The bear broke into laughing again. This time, everyone panicked.  
“But—Please, I have a family I need to see!” “No, no, no! No way!” “That’s insane! Why would you do this?”  
“Huh? Why? Simple! I want to see all of you break into despair!” The bear continued. “If the bright—”  
“Cut the crap.” Dane cut in. The bear looked up. “Listen, Monokuma, I’m going to make something clear.”  
“Puhuhu, oh? A fan, I see!” Monokuma chortled.  
“If you think whoever’s behind this is going to survive, you’re underestimating us.” Dane looked around. “You’re all some of the smartest people that could be stuck here.” Their hands went into their pockets. “We’re all too smart to let a killer go. Besides, look at our line-up! Two ultimate legal experts! A doctor! I don’t know what she does-“ Dane gestured to May “-but I can’t wait to find out. So if you want us dead, you’d be better off doing it yourself.” Dane finished.  
_…I’m sorry. That’s wrong._ I couldn’t stop the thought. _There’s no way… We can’t… You think we’re just going to die here?_ I instantly began looking around. I could read every single face there. So many of us missed home already. But then…  
“Dane is right.” Sam stepped in. “We have food, water, shelter… And from this point on, we’re 16 friends who happen to be the 16 most talented of our age. Whatever you have in store, we’re the ones to be scared of here.” Sam gave Dane a smile.  
"R-Right!" Dymo stood up. "All we need to do is wait out for help to arrive!" “Puhuhu… Well, we’ll see!” Monokuma declared. Immediately, 16 small robotic bears- 8 black, 8 white, strolled out from the stage. Each carried a small package, which they presented to a student. “Find enclosed your complementary Student Starter packs! It contains your room key, any and all information you may need—”  
**“TRANSLATED FOR YOU, SANAE-SAN”** The small one in front of Sanae cut in.  
“—And, of course, the first motive.” Monokuma turned, looking at each of us. “Read it carefully! Your life may depend on it! Puhuhuhuhu!” With that, all 17 bears laughed in unison, before seemingly vanishing.

We all stood, staring at each other. _Could one of us truly kill?_ I asked myself. It was a stupid question. I already knew the answer.  
_…I can’t let that happen. No, I should… First thing tomorrow, I’ll see who I’m sharing a room with. I should get to know someone, if just to bring spirits up. This is a game of morale, after all._  
Dane was way ahead of me. “…We should all get some rest. We regroup at 10AM tomorrow. Main lobby. I’ll bring chairs. Afterwards, I'd like to conduct individual interviews, see if any of us remembers anything useful. First, Sanae, Julia, Jack, help May to her room. Julia, check up on her. Everyone else in west wing, follow me.”  
“Hey, who the hell put you in charge?” Jamie's voice shook, but it was likely supposed to be a yell.  
“We’ll discuss that tomorrow, if you wish.” Dane answered nonchalantly. “For now, we need our strength.”

Me, Sanae and Julia were already helping May as all others left. I talked to Juila as we did; I was happy to talk about anything other than the current situation.  
“…So med school was tough, but I made it easy enough. Well, all good.” Julia declared, having checked May. “No concussion or anything, just needs some food and rest. Let’s see… Oh, east wing. Same!” Julia gave May a smile.  
“…She’s just been staring at nothing this entire time.” I said. “Will she really be okay…?” She’d be an easy target, is what I meant.  
“Medically, yes.” Julia answered. No, she won’t. Is what Julia meant. Sanae picked up May, and we began walking.  
“…I’m east wing as well. Sanae?” I asked.  
“Huh?”  
“Uh… Room?”  
“Room Three. East Wing.” Sanae answered. I nodded. We all made our way there.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
And there we have the final part of this prologue! I’ll be leaving a strawpoll soon for who to hang out with, and writing up the next part soon.  
I hope my writing style is working so far, if you have any tips or suggestions please let me know! As I said before, if anyone has any theories or headcanons please feel free to share. I love all of these characters so far, and hope I get to share them with you the way I see them in my head!  
Anyways, I’ll see you in 2020!  
Sincerely,  
Jorryn


	5. Chapter One: Chessboard Bloodbath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that we're out of the prologue, I want to get down to some mystery as quickly as possible. Our first Blackened should prove to be interesting!
> 
> The first half of the chapter will continue with Jack Clubs' POV, before moving on for investigation and trial. Come see Clubs meet his new classmates, as he walks the delicate tightrope between distancing himself and keeping everyone alive!

POV: ???  
Are we ready? We can't waste our chance here.  
...  
Yes, I know. Patience. This is a delicate game, after all.  
...  
...Fine. I'll stay the course. No need to worry. I am who I am, after all.  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
POV: Jack Clubs  
…  
_It’s quiet._  
The day before rang through my mind in the dimly-lit room, a single lamp casting long shadows against the walls. Staring up at the ceiling from my bed, I looked across at the lamp, then to the rest of my room. The entire room had been themed in black and white, with a checker pattern everywhere.  
…  
_That’s not really what I care about, is it?_  
Flashes of the day passed through my mind. The bear, Monokuma’s announcement. May, who had been passed out. The strange samurai who had joined them… And the first motive. I didn’t want to see what was in there. I didn’t want to be pushed to killing.  
…  
_But then, that’s his plan… Isn’t it?_  
I didn’t want to go too far into the Ultimate Gambler archetype, but… Poker is about mind games. It’s psychological combat, you have to play around what your opponent does, and respond accordingly.  
“…Okay. Practice for tomorrow.” I stood up and turned the light on. “From here on out, we’re engaged in psychological warfare. And then I’ll bring out my motive… It doesn’t matter what’s written on here. What matters is that we all agree on what to do with it. Yeah, I like that… If what’s written in here is so bad… No, how about…” I’d started thumbing through my drawers while talking. Nothing useful.  
“By giving us private information, the worry of what we each have is what Monokuma is relying on.” I’d begun thumbing through my informational pack for my motive. “So long as we all share what we have, we can’t—” I read my motive. “—be…”  
I slumped back on my bed. How could… I looked back, my crimes clearly laid out. It was exactly right.  
_It’s impossible. How did they know?_ I folded it up and put it back. _I thought I could get away from that here… I can't let anyone see this. I want a new start here, that's why I joined the academy. But then, with Libra here, it wouldn’t matter. I can never escape that incident._ I began preparing for tomorrow. With the combination of pacing and thinking so hard, sleep soon overtook me.  
\---  
*BING BONG BING BONG*  
“Goooooooood morning everyone! It’s now 8AM! Get up, get ready, for a brand new day!” I rolled out of bed in time to see Monokuma’s face on a screen in the corner. Sitting in a chair, with the 16 smaller bears bowing down to him, his carefree voice sailed out towards us. I took a shower and walked out for the day ahead.  
Angelo was already putting breakfast together, eight plates lined up next to him with pancakes waiting. “Good morning! Sleep well?” Angelo asked. He was smiling, except... His mouth was too tight, he was avoiding eye contact… And I could see several pancakes he had previously set fire to poking out of the bin.  
“Alright. Meeting in an hour, right?”  
“Yes. Could you get everyone up? We should eat together! Get to know-“  
“I’ll see who’s up then eat in my room, if that’s okay. Not great with people.”  
“Ah, okay. Don’t be shy if you want more, then!” He smiled harder, and I began knocking for people.  
**“One moment!”** Sanae called, before opening his door. **“Ah, good morning!”  
“Morning. Breakfast.”** I said. Looking at him, his clothes were allot more casual than the traditional dress from yesterday; a vest and some loose trousers, as opposed to the yukata from yesterday. He nodded, and began walking. Then, he stopped and turned.  
**“Are you joining us?”** he asked.  
**“No. Sorry.”** I replied, waving a hand. I knocked for Julia, Dymo, and Ellen, greeting them as they left. From Jane’s room, I heard a groan that vaguely sounded like an “I’m up”, then finally got to May’s room.  
I paused. _She’s a big target. She wouldn’t be able to fight back. I doubt she locks her door._ I considered just leaving her. _…She should join everyone._ I knocked.  
“May? I’m coming in, okay?” I asked. No reply. I opened the door.  
In front of me was a sight that… I entirely expected. May hadn’t moved since we put her to bed yesterday. “Hey.” I said, softly. “You should eat. Do you want to come to breakfast with us?”  
Too much time passed. “…sure…” she answered. _Oh dear. This is going to be a tough day or two before our first-_  
I quickly chased the thoughts from my head. “Can you walk?” I asked as I approached. I watched her sluggishly turn on her bed, moving to stand up… before laying down again. “Okay… C’mon.” I walked her out to the kitchen, she leant on me for support the whole way. I was practically carrying her by the time we sat down.  
“Morning all!” I said, more chipper than I felt. Dymo nodded. Julia waved, half a pancake still in her mouth. Jane had already finished, and was waiting for everyone else. Sanae, I noticed, was absent.  
“Oh, he finished and went ahead- Probably didn’t want to wait. Must have enjoyed his food though!” Angelo laughed, passing out plates. "Wolfed a couple down then left!" I sat next to May, watching her in case she fell over, and began eating.

“So. Check it. I’ve been thinking.” Dymo began. “We’re in here for a reason. That bear is so jokey and carefree, it hurts, right?.”  
“Hm? You thought of something already?” Angelo asked.  
“It’s simple. This is like- a prank show taken too far. We’ve been kidnapped, taken to our new school, and they want to see how long we can last without turning on each other.” He declared, happy with his answer. “Well, that or we’re gonna meet with everyone and the crew is gonna burst out.”  
“But, what if someone had died last night?!” Julia exclaimed, choking on the last part of her pancake. “And- That wouldn’t be funny! We’re all so scared!”  
“Exactly!” Dymo answered. “We’re scared! Everyone probably went to their room, locked the doors and waited.”  
He’s not wrong. I considered everyone. _I don’t really trust anyone here… Well, some people wouldn't be smart or strong to make the first move, but… Nobody here is that stupid. Killing would require setup, especially if you want to survive the trial._  
“Well, unless Ellen snuck out last night, none of us left our rooms.” I blurted out. Everyone looked at me. I looked to Ellen, who laughed.  
“Well, I miiiiight’ve slipped out.” She said in a singsong voice. “But I’m not dumb enough to kill someone immediately. A heist takes planning, right?”  
“Wait, y’went out?” Jane asked. “Y’idiot, you coulda died!”  
“Nah, no-one else left their room. Besides, I was just grabbing this!” She held out the fruits of her brave heist; a large bottle of whiskey.  
“I take it back!” Jane’s eyes grew wide. “You’re a damn treasure. Never leave.” She brought out a glass, and Ellen poured some. Jane took a sip…  
And immediately spat it back. “Fuck’s this? What’d y’do?”  
“…Huh? I was just trying to be nice…” Ellen sunk back into her chair.  
"...Eh, probably not yer fault. Doubted the school'd let us get pissed up, anyhow." Jane looked at her gift pensively. "...It'll be nice to look at, 'least. Cheers!"

“…done…” I looked over. May's food had barely been touched. Two, maybe three bites had been taken out of her food.  
“Are you sure?” Angelo asked, concerned.  
“Jesus.” Jane chimed in. Julia moved over.  
“Hey, well done! Was it nice?” She asked. May nodded. “Okay then. Are you going to be okay coming to the meeting later? Or do you want to stay here?”  
“…i’ll… help…” May answered, falling asleep immediately. Julia gave us a concerned look. I sighed.  
“I was kinda hoping to get Sanae to help with her today…”  
“Just leave her here.” Dymo said, standing up and placing his plate next to the sink. “She’d just slow everything down.”  
Nobody could really argue, but…  
“She said she wants to help. Who knows, maybe she’ll remember something on the way.” I said.  
“Fine, not my problem.” Dymo said.  
It's not like I really cared about May getting to know everyone, or even put much thought into what her memories may tell us. With zero body language to read, I was curious. Is she secretly some kind of genius? Is she in agony? For the first time ever, I couldn't tell. Maybe the Ultimate Gambler was a better fit for me than I thought... _What are you thinking, May?_ I hoped she’d hear my thoughts and respond. But no luck. We all got ready and began making our way to the meeting point.

True to their word, Dane had set up sixteen chairs for everyone. They had been arranged in a circle, with a clipboard behind the chair on which Dane sat. “Welcome.” They said. “My group will be here in a moment. Did anyone open their motives?”  
I stayed completely silent. Ellen raised her hand proudly. “Yep! I got—”  
“Don’t say yet.” Dane cut her off. “…We should decide later. I doubt everyone will want to share. Anyone else?”  
“Yeah, I did. We can say what the theme of the motive was, right boss?” Dymo asked.  
“…Was it ‘kill count’ for both of you?” Dane asked.  
“Yep!” “Yeah.” _They were both pretty low numbers, probably zero._  
Dane nodded. “Alright. Let’s wait for the others.”  
“Sorry, were y’all waitin’ long?” Francine asked. “Couple of us overslept.” Everyone sat down. Sanae had joined us already, holding a Japanese/English dictionary.  
“Okay, let’s—” Dane began, but paused for a second. As if on cue, music sounded as Monokuma appeared from seemingly nowhere.  
“Puhuhuhu? Preparing a trial already?” He jeered. Dane sighed. “Don’t be silly! You need to find a body first!”  
Libra was the first to speak. “Uh… Maybe we should talk about the motive first?” _Ignoring Monokuma, a smart move. Asshole._  
“Oh, right! Let’s show the folks at home your killcounts first! It was so difficult to find them all, it’d be a shame to waste them!” Monokuma declared, loudly.  
“Whatever we do, I want us all to agree about it.” I said. “If we’re not showing them, we need to agree how to get rid of them. If we’re sharing…”  
“We should do it in the open.” Dane noted.  
“Tch, what’s the big deal?” Jamie Swift asked. “We’re ultimates. We were all heavily vetted when we were scouted, right?” _Overcompensating. He's guilty of something. But is it deliberate? Or am I just paranoid?_  
“If I had to guess, this motive is only aimed at a couple of us. If we were all serial killers, it would be pointless for him if we showed." I paused. _How do I sell this? Keep talking._ "But, we'd all have high killcounts. So then if none of us share..."  
“Hmmmmm?” Monokuma hummed quizzically.  
"Oh, I get it. Somebody might kill to hide their secret!" Windy, who was annoyingly well-rested, chimed in. I nodded,  
“But also, the point could be that we hide everything. Weaponize our imaginations. If we’re all completely innocent, we might scare ourselves into killing.” I sighed. “So whatever we do, we need to be decisive.”  
“…You done this before?” Jamie asked. “You’re talking like you’ve done this before, Gambler.”  
_Gambler…? Okay, sure._ “This is psychological warfare. So is gambling. The difference is, I got all night to think about this.” I answered. Jamie seemed satisfied with that answer.  
“Ohhhh? Puhuhu, I think the Gambler is a fan too~” Monokuma mentioned, laughing as he left.  
“…Oh-kay, so, what’s the plan?” Jamie asked.  
“Maybe we shouldn’t share…” Julia chimed in. “I mean, I haven’t looked at mine yet-“ _true._ “-but… Well, I’m a doctor. I’ve done my best—”  
“I get it.” Dymo said. “We don’t know how direct it is, right?”  
“Oh! Like, setting off a chain of events that leads to a bunch of people dying?" Dani asked. "Like some kind of trickster god..."  
“…Right. We don't know.” Dymo said. “Is it ‘People you stabbed’? Does it count if you stole a wallet, causing someone to starve? We’d have to go through every kill we could remember.”  
“It might be a good idea…” Dane said. “I mean, how many could there be?”  
Silence. Nobody wanted to answer. _Maybe I should say mine first…?_  
“I don’t think that’s right.” Libra broke the silence. “We shouldn’t relive everything bad we’ve done. I mean, Julia looks like she’s about to cry just thinking about it.”  
_Huh...?_ I looked over. Julia had gone bright red. She was clutching her stomach, and she was breathing heavily. Francine had begun comforting her. As much as I’d like Libra to out himself… _No, I can’t do that to everyone._  
“Right. In that case…” Dymo leaned back.  
“Wait, before we move on…” Francine didn’t seem to know she’d spoke. She started going red. “Uh… If anyone wants to talk about anything in particular, it might still be good to share.” She coughed, and drank some water. “I mean- uh… I find the best way to clear ghosts from someone’s life is to just… talk about them…” She was slowly retreating backwards, as if ready for us all to dismiss her entirely.  
“Like therapy?” I offered.  
“Y-yeah…” Francine finished.  
“…ghosts…” May repeated. At this point, she had chosen to stay on the floor instead of her chair. As far as I could tell, she was thinking.  
"Pfft, like spirits? Lame." Dymo taunted.  
“No spirits here, far as I can tell.” Jane mentioned. “Whiskey that Ellen found was just water n’ summat.”  
“No afterparty for this meeting, then?” Jamie joked.  
“’Fraid not. Fuckin’ bullshit.”

“Okay so, next on the agenda.” Dane brought the front page of the flipboard over. “I want to conduct interviews with you all. Get to know you- and see if I missed anything before coming here. Unless, anybody has anywhere better to be?” Nobody responded. “Nice. From my left to right… I’ll put May and Julia together, if that’s okay?”  
“Okay, sure.” Julia answered, finally over her minor breakdown.  
“In that case…” I had been put down for tomorrow morning, at 9AM. An early start. Oh well. “You don’t have to bring your motives, but please do if you want to talk about them. And finally…” They turned over the flipboard. “There’s sixteen of us. I want to break into groups of four and explore. Nobody goes off alone, okay?” Everyone nodded.  
Okay, let’s see… Me, Sanae, Windy and Dani are all together. Libra has Angelo, Jamie and John. Dane is with May, Julia and Jane. And then Dymo is with Ellen, Cido and Francine. Solid line-up.  
“My group is going to see what we can find here. Sam, your group should take the North hall. Jack, you should take West. Dymo, East. That good? After we reconvene, feel free to look around on your own.” Dane finished. We all nodded. Before we headed off, they gave one final word of warning. “…I don’t think we’ll get out this easily. But I’ve been wrong before. So if anyone was planning on killing, you’re better off waiting.”  
“H-Hey…” Dani began, but Dane cut her off.  
“Just in case. Go find your way out.” Dane smiled. "The first killer would be up against fourteen ultimates, after all." With that, Me, Sanae, Windy and Dani all made our way to the east wing.  
\-----------------------------  
Bit of a longer one here! Now that we’re out of the prologue, I want to get as much of the “new school” stuff out of the way as possible, so look forward to that tomorrow night!  
If you haven’t already, there’s still time to vote on the strawpoll! Link is here: www.strawpoll.me/19155850  
Let me know what you’re all thinking down below; I’d love to hear everyone’s thoughts!  
Sincerely,  
Jorryn. 


	6. Chapter One: Chessboard Bloodbath

I stopped outside the west wing. _Okay, smaller group. Let's dig._ "Okay, now there's only four of us... Let's just check we haven't forgotten names. Allot of confusion lately... I guess, go ahead and call me Clubs."  
"Oh, right, well... Call me Windy. It's what the guys used to call me."  
"I'm Dani. Danidungeons on MoveTube." _She's calmed down a little. Must be shy._  
"My name is Sanae Saiki. I am samurai." Sanae said, reading off a note written on the inside of his new dictionary. **"Good to meet you!"**  
"Ah, the foreign kid. Well," Windy said, giving Sanae a hard pat on the back. "I think we'll be needing a big strong dude in here." Sanae quickly flicked through his dictionary, then nodded.  
"I am strong." _It's good that he's trying, at least._  
"So, shall we?" I asked. _Game time. If any of them have murderous intent, I'll know._

We began walking into the west wing, Sanae and I for the first time. Various paintings and sculptures were placed around the corridor, many with plaques with descriptions such as "Ultimate Growth: By Vincent Kakaroff" (A small sculpture of a plant, growing from ashes) or "Late Night Beats: By Dylan Mocha" (A depiction of a nightclub, with various students dancing and drinking. Due to the wild appearances, they must be past Ultimates). "I'm gonna take a guess, is this the arts department?" I voiced my thoughts, not that it was a long shot. "Okay, let's try..." I looked from door to door.  
"Oh, here!" Dani opened a door, walking in. We all followed.  
The room was only dimly lit, a small stone fireplace sparking to life as we entered. Four overhead spotlights flicked on, illuminating the table in the middle. Various games supplies, including dice, books, cards, all were packed neatly on a shelf across the room. The table itself was special; I recognised it as a gaming table. _Perfectly built to give each player their own space, yet to keep us all together as we play... I see. This room would be for Ultimates who focus on games._   
"This is perfect! Just like home!" Dani was excitedly going through the books. "First through Fifth edition... And Vampire: The Elegance! I could spend days just reading through all this! And look!" Dani produced a pack of cards from the shelf. "There's normal cards, novelty cards, trick cards... Stuff for both of us!" _...I really don't care. But..._  
"Looks like a nice place for a game or two."  
"Jeez, you don't need to play it cool all the time." Windy complained. "This room is for you! Live a little."  
"Nothing here to help us, though. Unless Monokuma wants to play Poker to let us out?" I joked, then everyone went silent. "...Worth a shot."  
"Oh..." Dani looked disheartened. "But... Don't you enjoy your Talent at all? That's the only way I made it this far..."  
I shrugged, looking around a little closer. "My talent means I'm the best at being lucky when it counts. I'm hardly..." My voice trailed off. "...That's odd."  
Sanae had walked over and followed my gaze. A painting was displayed, titled "Ultimate Friends: By", but the name had been erased. Five friends gathered around a table, one with a screen in front of her. All the faces had been painted over, what had once been five Ultimates were now five of the annoying bear, rolling dice. But that wasn't what bothered me. "Look. Those scars. Is that who I think it is?" I said, tracing the scars that had been drawn into a rather muscular-looking student.  
"...Who? What are you looking at?" Windy asked, trying to see what I could.  
"Nothing. I'm probably just seeing things." I said, turning away. "Looks like we're done here. Next." I left, waving everyone to follow. _I'll save that to think about later._

"Okay, let's see... A kitchen? We already have..." I opened a drawer. Just this one drawer was filled with tools like I'd never seen before, and a few I had seen. "Oh, okay."  
"Looks like it's for fancy food. And over here!" Windy picked up a small bottle of black liquid from the other side of the room. "Food and booze?"  
"Yes." Sanae said, trying desperately to keep up with what people were saying.  
"The rooms are repurposed each year, so I guess some rooms just get put together." I explained. "I'd wager it's two ultimate talents per room, and then others help occasionally?"  
"That makes sense! Like our room!" Dami offered. _Our room... I hope this doesn't become a thing._  
"So... It's Angelo and Jane in here?" Windy said, opening the bottle. "Neat." She drank a little, then stopped. "...Oh. It's soda."  
"Oh, that explains this morning." I said, then continued at the looks from the other three. "I think Ellen beat us here, she gave Jane a bottle of whiskey this morning. Looks like it's all fake."  
"Makes sense... Shame." Windy continued drinking. "Well, I think that's everything here. If Ellen were already here, she's probably found anything there is to find."  
"Okay, let's go!" Dani said. _They're rushing... But I think they're also right. I doubt there's much for us to find._

"So! Uh... Is it a good idea to split up?" Dani asked.  
"We should stay together." Windy said. "Safety in numbers, like Dane said this morning. Yknow?" _They're taking this seriously. Good. Dane is making my job that much easier._  
"These two rooms look like regular classrooms... There's a projector for class slides, but nothing useful." I said, looking closer at the artworks. _We don't have an Ultimate Artist here... I should see if anyone else might know a thing or two about art._  
"What about those two on the end?" Windy asked.  
"Dunno, can't see in. Shall we?"  
"Right! Onwards, travellers!" Dani declared. _She's been acting weird since we left that room... What is she doing? Is this a sign?_  
Opening the door to the room on the left at the end of the corridor, we emerged to a room filled with incense. Currently unlit, but the room was littered with ashtrays and cones that had been laid out.  
"Must be Cido's room." Dani said. "Aromatherapy, right? That's incense and stuff."  
"Right, right. Who else? Two per room, right?" Windy asked. Sanae was looking around. "...Flrancine."  
"Huh? Oh... Yeah, I guess. Spirituality and Aromatherapy kinda go hand in hand, right?" Dani nodded. "Nice thinking!" she quickly added, smiling at Sanae.  
Windy was already walking around, poking everything. "So, this is 'sposed to make you feel good with smells and shit?" She asked. "And then if something's haunting you, Fran's there to, what, give you an exorcism?"  
"I doubt it." I put my hand to my chin, thinking. "...Fran acts like she's a spirit medium, but I think she's just a really... Over the top Therapist."  
"So, you what, talk to the people that've died around you?" Windy asked.  
"I'd bet on that." I finished. "Hm... I wonder." I began looking around. I didn't find what I was looking for, but I did find a lighter. "Well, found this. Not much, but..."  
"Well, it might come in handy later. Who knows?" Windy said. "See anything else?"  
"Don't see much in any of these rooms... Not even much that might be good for killing. Windows are all the same as where I woke up, can't see any secret passages or anything..."  
"So, this is a bust?" Windy finished.  
"Maybe there's something in the last room?" Dami said, hopefully. "And then we can just head back."  
"That's fair. Let's go..." Windy walked out of the room. 

__

We approached the final room. Unlike the others, the door here was painted black and white. Next to it was a metal sliding door, heavily locked. _A stairwell, most likely._ I put my hand to the door ahead of me. _Why do I have such a bad feeling here? Like something bad happened here. Is this Deja Vu? Or something else?_ I pushed the door. It didn't open. I pulled the door open, then walked through.  
"This is... Some kind of admin room?" I looked around, confused. _What was that about?_ "Must be where the staff do... I don't know what teachers do."  
"Oh, this is perfect!" Dani instantly began looking around, going through all of the papers. Windy and I instantly got to helping. "We're looking for class files, maybe there's something about the past years! Or even about us!"  
Sanae nodded, helping us sort through everything. **"予算...スポーツ用品...ニュースレター...学生用文書...** Nothing here."  
"Here neither." Windy said. We all looked up. No record was left of any of the students... Nothing beyond a few newsletters, at least. The place was actually pretty barren.  
"...Monokuma must have beaten us here. I doubt he'd miss something like that." I said, defeated. "Damn."  
"I thought this might work... I guess it was a waste of time. Sorry, all." Dani said.  
"Hey, not your fault. Let's head back, and see what the others found. Someone must have seen something, right?" Windy said. "Gotta keep flying. Let's go." We all left, Sanae taking another quick look around, then left. _We didn't find anything useful, but... I think I can trust these three. They're trying, for everyone's sake. Right?_  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
And that's that out of the way! Next up is the Free Time Events, which I'll write up tomorrow. If you want to vote for your choice before then, here's the strawpoll link! https://www.strawpoll.me/19155850/r  
I'm enjoying writing everyone out so far, so be on the lookout for the next couple chapters. I'll take a week's break after these next few pages, then see what happens after. 

__

Keep it easy,  
Jorryn 

__


	7. Chapter One: Chessboard Bloodbath (Dymo FTE)

"So, what're we dealing with?" Dane asked. They'd brought their flipboard to the middle, the page split into four sections: North, east, west and middle. "We ended up finding... Not a whole lot over here. The stairwell to the next floor is blocked off, and there doesn't look like a safe route up there."  
"West wing looks like the art department. The rooms we found were built for two of us each. Stuff for Dani, Clubs, Angelo, Jane..." Windy checked some notes she'd scrawled on the back of her hand. "...Cido, and Francine. Nothing else really interesting."  
"Basically the same for us." Libra replied. "We were in the phys ed department. Rooms for general sports, combat training, weightlifting... Sounds allot more generic than you guys. We think the Gym doubles as a stage for Jamie, but otherwise..." Dane looked hopefully up to the last group.  
"Sorry, no dice. Computer room with no internet connection, library, a few lecture halls... But no clues." Dymo explained. "Total bust."  
"So nobody found anything useful?" Dane asked. _Okay, I'll just say it._  
"Well... Maybe, but I need to check something." I turned to Twice-Dead John. "...I saw a picture. Might be nothing but... Do you have a scar right here?" I traced my finger along my own collarbone, drawing a small outline.  
"Like this?" John pulled down his shirt to make it visible. I looked over it. It was the right shape, and in the right place, but...  
"Almost. There's another one over it, though. It wasn't like that in the picture."  
"Huh. Well, I got that scar while protecting the previous Ultimate Musician during a concert, then the second..." he traced it with his finger. "...I usually say something impressive about it, but this isn't the time. I got this from a rollercoaster ride last year. Fell over soon as I got off."  
I sighed. "Sorry. It was worth a shot."  
Dane looked around. "...Okay. I'll see some of you later today, and others tomorrow. Don't keep me waiting." And with that, Dane walked off.   
"...So, no great insights on this one, Gambler?" Jamie asked.  
"Nope. Can't play without cards, Actor. But, if you really want to know what I think..."  
"I don't. I'll be in my room." With that, Jamie waved as he left. One by one, everyone else left, until only Me, Dymo and Ellen were left.

"Hey, uh... I did actually want to talk. You got a minute?" Dymo asked.  
"Oh, I was gonna--" Ellen began.  
"Sorry, I got there first. You can take my sloppy seconds."  
"Actually--" I started.  
"Oh, okay, I'll catch you later then, Jackie!" and with that, Ellen vanished.  
"Neat. With me!" Dymo said, standing up. _Do I not get a choice here...?_ Dymo began leading me to the east wing. I was careful to look around this time, as we walked into a computer room. Most had been turned on, and were open to an internet browser, all displaying the same "Could Not Connect" message. Dymo sat at one, and gestured me to another seat.

"Okay, I need a favour. I need you to be honest." Dymo began. I'm not great at that. "We've been here two days now. As far as I can tell, we're not getting out any time soon. What're you feeling about this game? Can we win?"  
"...Right off the bat, huh?" I avoided the question. "It's too early to tell, to be honest. I mean-"  
"Cut the crap. I checked you out before coming here, if anyone knows its you."  
"I don't think anyone knows. Whoever's behind Monokuma, they don't know, either. But, if you want to hear some good news..."  
"By all means." Dymo began typing away at his computer.  
"Okay, well, I don't think our lineup is too dumb, at least. The other killing games- the fictional ones- they had one or two smart people in the mix, and a few not-idiots. We're lucky, if anything. An ultimate detective, a law student, Me, you... And I get the impression a few others are smarter than they let on."  
"So, plenty of people to outsmart us? Nice." Dymo rolled his eyes.  
"Not exactly. I already know Libra, and I won't trust him any time soon. Dane is... Dane has my trust for now, but in a trial? We have to be careful of each other. All of us. And those two are probably thinking the same."  
Dymo paused. He turned back to look at me, taking me in. _If he goes to kiss me, I will throw up immediately._ I felt my thumb drift to my ring, a single black band on my middle finger.

"...Interesting. You're really thriving here, you know. Most people don't." Dymo finally voiced what he was thinking.  
"My whole life is a game." I replied. "All I'm going to do is win."  
Dymo smiled. "I'd drink to that."  
"Alright, enough about me. Who are you, when you're not being kidnapped?"  
"Well... computers take up most of my time. I've heard of the franchise that we've been swallowed by, but I wouldn't call myself a weeb. Mostly, I get brought on to help smaller companies with their systems. Small games companies, small e-tailers, you name it, I can do it."  
"You don't sound like you're in a rush to get out."  
"You kidding? Everything that's happening out there, we're safer in here. Don't get killed, don't kill anyone, and survive. It's paradise. A-ha!" the computer Dymo had been typing at began making noise. _Wait, I know this..._  
"...Oh my fucking god." I laughed.  
"If you think I'm not bringing all of the memes, you're a fool." Dymo turned up the music, saving it as 'MEGALOVANIA', and turned off the computer. "If we can't bore the mastermind to death, we'll make sure nobody can take this show seriously. That's the best I can do, at least."  
"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Good luck."  
"And to you. Oh, hey, our Monopads have a chat function by the way. Let me know if you need a hand in a trial. 'JJ' in chat and I'll back you up, if I can."  
"Wait, seriously?"  
"Sure, why not. I don't think you'll kill any time soon. But when you do, I want to know how you operate." Dymo smiled, patting me on the head as he left. "Good luck with Ellen, she's... Odd." And with that, he shut the door.

 _Did I just make... A friend? That's dumb. I hate it. But... I can't say I don't appreciate it. Jack and Dymo..._  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
First FTE! Trying to tie it into the story a little, hoping to expand on this later. Hope y'all enjoyed!  
I'll be writing up Ellen's FTE tomorrow before posting, so keep an eye out!  
I'm also required to rest up the next couple days, so hopefully there's gonna be plenty more writing.  
Let me know your thoughts down below, and I'll see y'all in a couple days!


	8. Chapter 8

_Ellen asked me to meet… I wonder what she wants?  
All of this is getting a bit much… I really hope this one’s a bit lighter. _  
I made my way to where we were meeting. I messaged her on the monopad’s messaging system, and soon found myself to the games room I’d previously explored with Dani, Sanae and Windy. Walking in, I saw Ellen sitting across the table from me, playing Solitaire.  
“Oh, heya! Glad you could make it!” Ellen called. I cautiously walked over, sitting down, glancing around. _No traps. Good._  
“Hey, what was I gonna do? Go home instead?” I joked. Ellen completed a set of Hearts, placing them at the top.  
“You can do that? Maybe you should be the ultimate Thief, instead!” Ellen laughed. “All I’ve managed is to find the Monokuma vents.”  
“...The what?”  
“You know! It’s how Monokuma can pop up anywhere! He travels through the vents!”  
 _She said that so… Off-handedly, but… That’s a major discovery!_  
“It’s too bad…” She continued, “I can’t show you guys how to get through them.” A full set of spades next to the hearts.  
“Wait, what? Why not?”  
“I promised Monokuma. And besides, if everyone can do it--”  
“Right, then anyone could use it to kill.”  
“What? Oh, right. I was gonna say I wouldn’t be special anymore.”  
 _..._ “So… You don’t want us to know--”  
“Because I’m the ultimate Thief.”  
“...Okay, what is this?” I asked, a little more harshly than I’d meant to. “Why’d you call me here?”  
“H-Huh?”  
“I mean, I understand what Dymo was doing… In a weird way. Gauging me. So what’s this?”  
“I…” Ellen placed another card down. She was choosing her words. “I just… You’re always alone when you can help it. Do you… Hate us, for some reason?”

I paused. I didn’t expect that. “I mean, I understand the killing game and everything, but… You don’t look like you really like anyone--” Ellen was beginning to talk faster “--Except maybe May, but I’m not really sure, and--”  
“Okay, okay, I get it. Just being friendly.” I sighed. _Do I really come off so… Assholish?_ “Look, I don’t hate anyone here. I’m just…”  
“...Scared, right?” Ellen looked at me, as though thinking about something. Usually she seemed so air-headed, this caught me off guard. “...No honour among thieves.”  
“What?”  
“It’s a saying. We’re all doing bad things, so we’re all liable to betray each other. People you trust can be your greatest enemies. That’s what you’re scared of, right?”  
“You must know allot about that.” I said. Ellen finished her game of solitaire.  
“Nope. Kinda hard to sneak around with a buncha people with me. Sometimes I’ll pay for a distraction or a few guys to knock out some guards, but usually…”  
“All alone. Right.” I leaned back in my chair. “...Yeah, you got me. Everything that happened with Libra this year… Maybe I’ve been too closed off. We’re not gonna survive if we don’t work together.”  
“Right! So, y’know, try being friendlier! It won’t kill you to smile!” Ellen said, grinning. 

After that, we spent some time playing card games. I showed Ellen a few that I like to play when alone.  
 _Friendlier… Maybe that would be best. But then, I’m usually better at playing the asshole or the villain…  
I hope I don’t need to decide any time soon. For now, at least, I feel like I got to know Ellen’s trade a little better. _  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
FTE#2 Complete! Currently, Jack Clubs has 1 hope fragment with both Dymo and Ellen.  
Have your decisions led to a life spared? Or a life destroyed? Next up is going to be the interviews as we head into day 3 in the New Ultimate Academy! Did you make the right choice? Or the dreadfully wrong one?  
I'll be back with a new chapter soon, so don't worry!  
Sincerely,  
Jorryn


	9. Chapter 9

Hey all,  
Minor hiatus there, 2020 hit me pretty hard. should be up to fortnightly updates until I finish Uni, so look out!  
As always, theories as to the next victim/killer, the plot or the characters is greatly appreciated, along with any advice!  
I won't keep you any longer. Let's jump straight into it!  
Sincerely,  
Jorryn.  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Perspective: Samuel Libra  
A mirror shatters. A black cat crosses your path. You walk underneath a ladder.  
I’m not one for superstition. You can’t attribute bad luck to a completely normal event. That’s just lazy.  
And that’s why I thought nothing of it when I woke up with a stomach ache.

Dane had left for their interviews. They said they would be fine on their own. Everyone knew who was going to the interview, and at what time; Dane had even left a sheet on the wall of the west wing so we could all check who had paid Dane a visit. It was foolproof. Right?  
I sat around after the morning announcements, passing the time by chatting with my classmates. Jamie was teasing Dani, and John was telling him to stop… I checked the time.

Jack would leave his interview at roughly 10AM. He’s been avoiding me; even though we’re in this strange situation, he still seems to be holding his grudge. We should work through this early, I decided. He must want to get out of here as badly as I do…. Right?

“...We just sat around and talked! It was no big deal!” Dani yelled, bright red with her normal anxiety.  
“Discussing a script, perhaps? The dungeon mistress, and the aromatherapist? A smoky dungeon for you two to play in~?” Jamie teased. _Perhaps she’s blushing. Could be either._  
“Jamie, that’s enough! Leave the girl alone!” John warned. I let the usual liveliness of the kitchen fill the empty air as I ate my toast.  
“...Pff. Fine. Killjoy…” Jamie sulked, crossing his arms. I let out a sigh.  
“I mean, what’s it to you? Scared that Cido might be competition?”  
“Huh? Hey, don’t turn this around--” Jamie started, but John cut in.  
“Uh-oh, someone’s jealous!” He teased, grinning. Dani let out a small laugh, her blush fading instantly.  
“Wow, John… I thought we were friends...”Jamie looked to the ground sadly, immediately shaking it off and standing up. “Oh well. Tea, anyone?”  
We all let out a chorus of orders, and Jamie got to work. No sugar and milk for John’s coffee, Two sugars and milk for Dani’s tea, with the same for Jamie, and three sugars, no milk for my coffee. We’d all make drinks often enough that we were learning each others’ preferences, but we’d only been here less than a week. As far as I knew, Dane didn’t drink anything at all, and Francine liked to change it up every drink to keep us on our toes.

We all sat back down, drinking in the bittersweet goodness.  
“So, everyone had their interview yet?” John asked.  
“I’m going to mine later. 2pm.” Dani replied.  
“Mine was pretty quick. Asked about my career, my interest in murder mysteries… Mostly the tricks the killer used in the ones I’ve been in. None of them really work here, though, too dependent on setting.” Jamie said.  
“Had mine yesterday. Mostly just my background with Jack.” I said. “Ended up being kinda boring…”  
“Oh yeah, I heard about that.” Dani paused. “You two are friends, right? Why don’t you hang out more?”  
“Oh, uh… We had some... professional differences, on the outside. He didn’t kill anyone or anything, just… Well, we had a pretty big fight over a decision I made. Haven’t talked much since.”  
“How dramatic.” Jamie responded. “Was it something stupid? I hate it when that happens, especially just at the end of the movie. I mean--”  
“No, no!” I cut Jamie off before he started talking about writing. “It was something pretty bad, actually. I don’t know if there was a good way out of it.” I checked the time. 10:25. I should go soon, in case he finishes early. “Which reminds me… I should probably leave.” I drained what was left of my coffee, putting it in the sink to wash up later, and left.

Ah, before I continue, I should introduce myself properly. My name is Samuel Libra, the Ultimate Law student. I don’t consider myself to be a real “protagonist”, but Jack and I have always had a sort of rivalry since we were kids. We used to joke that he was my edgy rival, like from some kind of RPG, but with this killing game set up like this…I don’t want it to turn dangerous.  
Usually, I’d aim to win a trial as by-the-book as possible, but nothing about this is “usual”. Hope, despair, truth, lies…I don’t care so much about that as I do about everyone surviving.

For the last few days, I’ve been trying to keep my side of the school’s spirits up. Mostly, I’ve been hanging out with people- encouraging everyone to do things together. Ultimately, I’m trying to counter Monokuma’s despair with a sense of community. We’re strongest together, after all. Whether we further our ultimate talents, or just sit around playing games, it doesn’t matter. So long as we get out of here alive, I’ll be happy. I’ve also enlisted a few ground rules; nobody goes anywhere alone if they can help it, we log when we leave the dorms, and lock our rooms every night.  
With this, I hoped we’d never even see the first trial.  
But systems were designed to fail.

I sat in the east wing corridor, outside what had been deemed Dane’s room. A small room for interviews to be conducted. I suppose I could make use of it, too, but I was more built for the courtroom than an interview room. A grand stage instead of a cold room. I sat with my back to the room, book in hand. I waited around 20 minutes for Jack to leave the interview room. As I heard the door open, I marked my place and put the book down.  
“Jack!” I called. He turned, and quickly began walking away. I jogged to catch up. “Hey! It’s been a while. We should--”   
Jack sighed, and turned. “You’re right. Let’s clear the air. You’re an asshole, I hate you, please die. Good talk, I feel much better.” And he began walking off again. I walked too.  
“Look. I hate this too. But if we’re going to survive, we need to-”  
“Work together?” He cut in. “Golly gee willikers, Libra! Sure! Let’s all hold hands and sing! Maybe then Monokuma will let us all out.” He rolled his eyes.  
“Or maybe we won’t kill anyone! Help will come! The person behind monokuma will flee! We don’t know!” I stepped in front of him. “Look, I just… I need you with me for this. We get out of here alive and stay away from each other, forever. Okay?”  
“You need me. Huh.” Jack said, stopping in his tracks. “I seem to remember a certain someone wanting to do everything alone. ‘Just let me handle it. Trust me. We can get through this if you let me take care of things.’ Weren’t those your exact words not three months ago?” Jack noticed my stunned silence, and continued. “So yeah, you do need me on this. But you know what I need? I need you to stay out of my way and let me do what I’m best at. Shut up and let me make this killing game my bitch.”  
I stammered, searching for the words to describe what I felt. How could I be angry with so much shame? How could I be ashamed with my blood boiling? Finally, I settled somewhere in the middle. “...That’s… I made my call--”  
“And look where everyone ended up. You let the bad guys win for the sake of your moral high ground. Congrats. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m spending the next hour with Sanae, trying to teach him some English so he can talk to people. Is that okay with you?”  
I looked to the ground. _So that’s how a cross-examination feels…_ I stepped to the side, letting him past. He walked a few paces, then looked back at me. “Oh, and, Libra? One more thing. If I find out you’ve killed someone… Don’t even try to cover it up at trial. There’s no scenario where you survive. Even if we voted wrong, I’d just kill you before you get out. Ain’t no bear that could stop me.”  
The cold, slow anger was present in every syllable of his speech. Every fiber of his being filled with a calculating, careful hatred. What scared me wasn’t that I might kill someone, and that he would find out; what scared me was the idea that he might be capable of keeping his promise.

 _Does he really have it in him to kill…? Or is it only because of me? What do I do next?  
...And with feelings like that floating around, could someone die soon? Did I make a difference at all?_  
I put these thoughts to rest as soon as I got back. It was only 11AM, but I laid down in my bed and let myself fall asleep.  
 _If someone did die soon… Who would it be? ___

__“Oh dear.” Cido replied. I slept for two hours, and came out to get lunch. “Is there anything I can do to help?”  
“Unless your essential oils can stop him being an asshole, I doubt it.” I joked. I leant back, book in hand. “Otherwise… Best we can do is look out for each other. Make sure everyone’s happy. Or as happy as they can be.”  
“Well, I certainly have something for that one. Would you come on by the spirit room this evening for a massage? I really should be practicing.”  
I instinctively went to decline, but… As I thought about it, I could use a moment to relax. And I could tell by Cido's face that this might be therapeutic for him, too.  
“Okay. Sure. Be over at 8PM?”  
“Really?” Cido’s eyes lit up, he suddenly seemed very awake. “Excellent! Yes, 8PM should do it. I should go prepare! Hm… Perhaps this calls for lavender… Or perhaps Eucalyptus?” Cido lost himself in thought, biting his finger as he considered what he would do to me later…  
 _...I hope that was a good idea.__ _

__

__At this point, Windy returned. “Hey, someone get the kettle? Just grabbing Dani quick.” She declared. She stopped when she saw Cido. He was drooling a little. “...Y’alright there bud?”  
“Huh? Oh, yes, just… Cooking something up for later.” He said. I quickly stood up and went to the kettle.  
“Black coffee, two sugars?” I asked, my back to Windy.  
“One sugar. Cheers!” She turned, and went presumably to knock for Dani. One sugar, no milk… Perfect. I set the coffee down on the table.  
“...I should go. I need to prepare!” Cido announced.  
“Just remember, interview at 5. If you keep Dane waiting, you’ll probably end up the first victim.” I joked.  
“Yes, yes, of course… Plenty of time. Goodbye!” Cido raced off, thoughts of plants and oils and massages filling his head. _I really hope that wasn’t a mistake…_  
Not long after, Windy returned with Dani. “Ended up finishin’ early, so hopin’ to speed things up. Give Dane some time to process everythin’ later.” Windy explained.  
“Well… Let’s hope she finds my life as boring as I do…” Dani said. “Oh, how does Dane have her tea?”  
“...They like it with no sugar, plenty of milk.” Windy said, with plenty of emphasis on the “they”.  
“O-Oh, right… Ah, I was doing so well, too…” Dani kept her head down, and began making two drinks. A tea for Dane, and a coffee for herself.  
“Hey, don’t worry about it too much. Dane’s usually pretty chill if you’re not an ass about it.” I assured Dani.   
“O-Oh, that’s good to hear…” Dani put the drinks on a tray, and left the room silently. Windy sat down, immediately slumping into the chair.  
“Oy vey… Fuck me… You have your interview yet? Dane is fucking intense!” Windy exclaimed.  
“Really? I find if you tell them what they need to know, and don’t lie, they’re fine.”  
“For real?! I went there to talk about my flying career, instead I felt like I’d just bombed parliment!” Windy let out a deep sigh. “At some point they just sat and stared at me, I kept talking but that just? Made him- made them angrier!”  
“They must’ve thought you did something. Did you take your killcount?” I asked.  
“What? No, we said we didn’t have to show, right? ‘Sides, mine’s empty.” Windy added quickly. I decided not to interrogate her further, she’d been through enough by the sounds of things.  
“Huh. Guess they let you go because they figured you were innocent.” I replied.   
“‘Spose. Felt more like they were pissed they didn’t get a confession.”  
“Maybe. Sounds like them, to be fair.” _ _

__One at a time, I talked with the other students as they came in. At around 6:30pm, Dane came back, looking exhausted. Their notebook had clearly been used allot, I noticed various pieces of paper also sticking out. Dane sat down and took a deep breath.  
“Okay. So. From what I can gather… We’re safe here. You should watch your back for Jack, after everything that happened, but… Any killers in this game are too smart to make that first move.” They declared. “So, so long as nobody tries to take on the powerhouse that is you, me, and Jack… We’re good.” They noted, their arms folded and hat pulled down. _I recognise this... They're getting restless, cooped up on "desk duty" for so long. This could be bad... I'll talk to them tomorrow._  
“Good.” I replied, pretty relieved. “So, the main issue is if any of us three try to kill the other.”  
“Which won’t happen, because there’s plenty of B-List investigative ultimates. We have Julia on forensics, John and Sanae on guard duty, Dani can put clues together pretty easily, and we’d still have one of our A-List. I also have it on Jack’s word that Dymo is someone to look out for, too.”  
“So… We basically have a full police force in this school?”  
“Looks like it. Everyone knows their role, it just depends on the bear. Let’s hope he doesn’t fight dirty…”  
“Oh yeah, he’s been quiet today. Wonder what--”  
“He hasn’t. Trust me. He’s been, to use the technical term, a complete god-damned twat.”  
“Oh, okay. That makes sense… How often-”  
“He’s been sat in the interview room all day. Didn’t leave once.” They let out a deep sigh, and got up to make some tea. “So yeah. Not the best day. Did I miss anything? I think we’re all good.” They poured some tea, and turned to leave. “I need sleep. Goodnight.”  
With that, Dane left me in the kitchen. Alone for the next hour and a bit, waiting to meet Cido._ _

___I guess I’m not the only one that needs to calm themselves… Maybe I should recommend Dane to Cido?_  
With that, I passed the time, and left to see what awaited me. _I just hope this doesn't end badly...__ _


	10. Chapter 10

Drums beat softly, lulling me into security.  
The smell of lavender, the smell is indescribable- mixed with various other plants, I am completely calm.  
I take off my shirt. I see Cido preparing, rubbing his hands in some kind of salt…  
“Please, lay down.” He guides me to a table, a hole cut out where I rest my face. The table is cushioned, and is so comfortable I could be floating right now. Despite this inherent sense of calm, my heart races as Cido gently places his hands on my back…  
Just as a blood-curdling scream cuts through the school.

At first I don’t notice. But as it gets louder, I snap out of my trance. Cido pulls back as I roll off the table, grabbing my shirt. Someone had turned off the lights, so I could only see a couple vague shapes in the darkness. The taller one raised its hand, a sword clutched tightly as it goes to swing down...  
“Hey!” I shouted. The figure looked up at me, then behind me… And ran. It slammed the lights on as it left, blinding me. I didn’t see who it was. _But I know who it was. But why...?_  
I ran over to the figure on the floor.  
“Dane! Are you okay?” I asked.  
“Yeah, yeah. Dizzy…” Dane began to get to their feet, just as most of the west wing arrived. Notably, both Jamie and Dani were missing. There was a clamour of voices, four people all making sure Dane was okay. They put up a hand for everyone to stop. “...Male. Slightly taller than Sam. Dark clothes, likely dark hair. Samurai sword. I went into the game room for some note paper, he attacked me once I entered.”  
I opened my mouth to ask a question, but decided better. Dane can answer once they’re better. “...Francine, John, take Dane back to their room. Windy, check on the other two. Cido, with me. We should let the east wing know what just happened.” _And interrogate our wannabe killer._  
“Okay.” Cido nodded, sadly. I noticed a couple people were staring.  
“...What? Huh? Oh.” I looked down. I remembered to bring my shirt, but forgot an important step; wearing it. I quickly scrambled to put it on, doing up each button quickly. “...This isn’t what it looks like.”  
“I offered young Mr. Libra a massage. You’re all free- not the time. Sorry. To work!” Cido declared. “Well, you heard the man. Libra, come come!” With a degree of murmuring, the crowd split. Those four went back to the dorms, and Cido and I began heading to the East wing.

The halls were eerily silent as we made our way there. Even with the lights on, every shadow put me on edge- like someone with a sword would jump out at any moment. I stopped Cido as we got to the east wing halls. “...Hey. I have a hunch.”  
“Oh, I can take care of that later. For now-”  
“No, like, a feeling. I think I can guess who our attacker is.”  
“Oh! That kind of hunch. Do tell.”  
“Jack Clubs. He said he was hanging out with Sanae earlier, so he’d be able to get his katana easily enough… Plus, he’s probably the best candidate for the first blackened.” I said.  
“Hm… You don’t think your history might be clouding your judgement?”  
“No, I mean… Yes. Maybe. I don’t know why he’d attack someone at random like that, but… He matches Dane’s description, and he’s part of Dane’s golden trio of ‘A-List Investigators’, so he’d be in the best position to do this. Plus, out of the fifteen it could be-”  
“Six of us are accounted for already. I see… And if it’s male…”  
“That leaves…” I quickly did the math in my head. “...Five possible suspects. Assume Sanae’s not dumb, four.”  
“I understand. Well, let’s see what’s what for now. More important than finding the attacker is ensuring nobody else gets hurt.” Cido said, with a small bow, as he began walking to the east wing dorms.

We rang the doorbell, and Julia opened the door. Peering through, I could see May- now in a wheelchair- as well as Ellen, Dymo, and Sanae. “Hello, Julia. How are you?” I asked.  
“I’m good…? Why so formal?” She asked.  
“There was just an incident in the west wing. Nobody’s hurt, just shaken. Could you get the others for me please?”  
“Oh, sure! Please, come in- Someone should get tea. I’ll be right back.” Julia left the door open, and Cido and I walked in. After a few minutes of waiting- in which time we each took a cup of tea- Jack, Angelo and Jane walked into the room.  
“Who’s dead?” Jack asked.  
“Nobody’s hurt. But about-” I checked the time. “-Ten minutes ago, at 8:05, Dane was attacked. It was dark, so they didn’t see who it was.”  
Sanae stood up. “Nani? Genki desu ka?” I looked to Jack.  
“Are they okay?” Jack repeated.  
“Yes, yes, they’ll be fine. I imagine John is going to make sure they stay in bed for the night. In the meantime…”  
“You want to pin the crime on someone.” Jack finished.  
“Shut it, Jackaboy.” Jane said with a sigh. “Carry on.”  
“Thank you. Now, we don’t want to jump to conclusions… We want to make sure everyone’s safe. So, I’d like to stake out the main hall tonight.”  
“The main hall?” Ellen asked. “Why’s that, if they’re targeting the West Wing?”  
“The attacker ran back this way. If they’re west wing, they have some way out we don’t know about. If they’re east wing… Well, we want to make sure that they can’t pass through without being seen. So, Two from east wing, Two from west wing and myself. Probably switch out after eight hours. Any volunteers?”  
“...I’ll go.” Julia stepped forwards. “If anyone gets hurt, I want to be first on scene.”  
“In that case, I’ll go.” Jack said. “Sam’s giving me the evil eyes. And since we have a doc on scene, it’ll be easier to take the bastard out.” He jumped to his feet. “I’ll clear my name, catch a bad guy AND look bitchin’ doing it. That alright with you, Libra?”  
“Fine by me. Okay, you two should put May to bed. Dymo, Sanae, we’ll come get you when we swap over.”  
“Why me?” Dymo asked.  
“Oh, you and Jackie seem to be friends. I figured you’d want to help him out.”  
“...Eh, I’ll be up anyways. So that’s, what, 4am? I’ll see ya then.”  
“Everyone else… Look after each other. Nobody goes out without everyone knowing, okay?”  
“Goddit.” Jane replied. Angelo had already fallen asleep, and the others began going to bed. I don’t know if Sanae understood my words, but by the expression on his face he could piece together what had happened.  
“Oh! One more thing! Sanae?”  
“Hai?”  
“Your sword. Katana. Where is it?” I asked, noticing that for the first time, it was no longer at his side.  
“Ehhh... “ Sanae quickly flicked through his dictionary. “I know not. Missing.” He began whispering numbers in english. “2, 3… (kusuo… ehhh) AM?”  
“P.M.” Jack corrected.  
“Jūbun chikai.” Sanae sighed.

“So, who should we bring from our group?” Cido asked, on the walk back. “I think John is a good bet… Very strong...”  
“I don’t think it really matters.” I replied. “Jack knows I’m on to him now. He won’t be trying anything soon.”  
“And what if it’s not Jack? He’s the obvious scapegoat, why would he do something so… risky?”  
“That would make sense, were this a story.” I opened the door to the west wing dorms. “But if you see Professor Plum with the katana in the main lobby, it’s usually him.”  
“But… You didn’t see him.” Cido protested. “You saw a shadow of someone who could have been Jack..”  
“And usually I’d have forensic investigators and security cameras and the Ultimate Detective with me. Unfortunately, in this game all I have is my eyes, and my instinct. And they’re both telling me--”  
“You two coming in or what?” Jamie asked from the kitchen. Dani and I turned in shock, we hadn’t noticed him there. “Heard about Dane. What do you need me to do?”  
“Where were you?” Cido asked. “You shouldn’t wander off in the night like that…”  
“Relax. I’m just a heavy sleeper. Took a couple hundred presses on my doorbell to wake me.” Jamie took a sip of tea. “Anyways, as you two are debating something, I guess you have a plan?”  
“Yes. Mr Libra has decided to set up a stakeout for tonight. Julia, Jack, and Sam will camp out for four hours… We just require a couple volunteers from here.”  
“I’m in.” Jamie said, spinning around. “Be nice to talk to the easterners. And make sure nobody dies, I guess.”  
“Fine by me. Cido, could you grab John for me?”  
“Of course. One moment.” Cido said, making his way to the rooms.  
“...So, Sammie. You think it’s Jack that did this?” Jamie asked, keeping his voice down.  
“Looks that way. There’s not allot of evidence against anyone, not that anything would come of it if there were…”  
“I’d be happy to keep an eye on him. If you think he’s dangerous…”  
“I do.” I said this quicker than I had meant to, but it was the truth. This went beyond our childhood rivalry… _What could he do here?_  
“Fine, then. Leave it to me.” Jamie said, as he leant back. With that, John entered the room, we made drinks for the night, and the three of us- Jamie, John and I- left for the main hall.

The night passed, and aside from the automatic lights flicking on and off every now and again- Dani getting note paper, Dymo checking some code he’d written earlier- our shift passed seemingly without incident. We took turns- leaving in pairs- to make drinks for everyone, and after three hours had passed…  
“Hey, I need the bathroom. Anyone coming with?” Jack asked.  
“I will.” Jamie responded, standing up. “North wing? Should be empty at this point.”  
“Perfect. Let’s go.” Jack stood up, walking quickly towards the north quarter. I thought nothing of it; Jack had been a little passive-aggressive, but did not seem to care much about getting out of this killing game. _Maybe it was just a prank. That would be nice, wouldn’t it?_

About ten minutes later, the two returned. Jack stretched and yawned. “Well. That’s me done. How long’s left?”  
“Only half hour.” John replied. “Late nights are the worst…”  
“Perfect. Won’t be long now.” He smiled. “How about--” But Jack was cut off. At that moment, a scream rang out from the east wing. We all looked towards the sound.  
“Julia! Sam! With me!” John shouted, rushing that way immediately.  
“R-Right!” Julia stammered, as she grabbed her things and rushed on.  
“You two! Stay here!” I ordered, and ran to catch up with everyone. _I know that voice. That sound. But it’s impossible. There’s no way. Come on. Faster!_

“Damn, where was that from…” John asked, looking around. “Hey! You okay?!”  
“Over here!” I exclaimed, pointing to a door that had been left ajar. I ran over, and slammed the door open.  
I clenched my eyes closed at the sight of the room, but I was too late. The scene was burnt into my brain. The blood had pooled, the table turned on its side… And Dane was slumped against the wall, his heart pierced by a sword.

…

When a victim is stabbed through the heart, it results in near instant death. The stab was not clean in the slightest, yet the victim standing and lack of blood flow mean there was not as much blood as one may expect. What blood had been spilt had pooled on the floor at his feet. There are some defensive wounds on the victim’s arms consistent with the blade, and…  
I clung onto this memory. The autopsy report. The beginning of the rift between us.  
I know who the culprit is. I just need to work out how to tie them to it.

**DING DONG! A body has been discovered! Please make your way to the East Wing of the school!**

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Won't lie, this chapter was longer than I expected. I wanted to break it into two parts, but then there wasn't a "clean" resting point.  
With that said; be ready for the first investigation coming next Thursday! I'm hoping to get the investigation in two parts, then go for a three-part trial, but we'll see what happens.   
As for Dane... Sorry to everyone who liked them! I really enjoyed writing them, and wanted to give them more scenes- but didn't want to raise their death flag too much.  
Hope you enjoy the coming despair!  
Sincerely,  
Jorryn


	11. Despair Roulette/Hopeful Strategy Page 11: Chapter 1 INVESTIGATION START

“Sam Libra, I presume?” They asked, extending a hand. “Junior Detective Dane. This case is my Ultimate exam, as is the same for you, if I understand correctly?”  
“That’s right,” I nodded, “What are we dealing with here?”  
They flicked their long coat behind them as they began walking around the crime scene. They brought up a dictaphone as they described what they saw. “Victim’s name is Bradley Summers, a student at the local university. Cause of death, pending on the autopsy, appears to be a single stab wound to the chest, straight through the heart.” A gloved hand moved his arms for a better view. “Defensive wounds on the arms, as well as the state of the room, show signs of a struggle. No fibres or hairs from the attacker, and…” the detective inspected the victim’s hands for a moment. “...I’d wager that they didn’t manage to fight back. All wounds point to this being a complete beatdown by a single assailant.”  
I thought back to what I knew about that group. “How do you figure?” I asked.  
“If there were two people, you’d expect far more bruising, or much heavier wounds. Judging by how old the blood over there is--” Dane pointed to a patch of blood that appears to have coagulated somewhat “--I’d say the fight lasted at least ten minutes. The blood tells us they started in that corner, and the victim made it right here- to the door- before finding it locked. They turned to face their attacker, just as…” They flicked the blade, a two-foot-long katana, sticking out of the victim’s chest, pinning them to the wall. The blood had trickled down from that point, but soon stopped as their heart was cut in two, pooling at his feet.

\--

I finished giving much the same monologue as I looked around the room. At this point, everyone else had reached the games room. “...You got all that already?” Windy raised an eyebrow. “Yeesh. Really takin’ this seriously, huh?”  
“I’ve seen this scene before.” I replied, adding ‘Signs of a Struggle’, ‘Fight Timeframe’, ‘Murder Weapon’ and ‘Locked door’ to the case file on my monopad.  
“What, like, in a dream?” Windy pushed for details, but I finished and looked around. _Dane has already laid out the path to solving this case. If I can just intersperse that case from two years ago…_ “...Y’need a minute, Sammy?”   
“No. I’m fine. Just planning how we’re going to do this.” I took a deep breath and looked at everyone. 

“One, two, guard this room.” I pointed to Sanae and John. “Make sure nobody takes anything out.”  
“Count on us.” John smiled. Sanae said something in Japanese. Jack didn’t translate, for once.  
“One, two, three, first investigative team.” I pointed to Ellen, Jamie and Windy. “I’ll be headed out with Jack and…”  
“I’m in.” Dymo spoke up.  
“Fine. Me, Jack and Dymo. Ellie, Jamie, Windy, you three don’t need to know who the killer is by the time the trial starts. We just need you to have a rough idea how everything happened.”  
“But, if we don’t figure out who--” Windy began, but was quickly cut off by Jamie.  
“We’ll be figuring out the ‘Who’ later, during the trial. Usually with these things, if you know who it is before like halfway through, you’re either missing something or the killer’s dumb. Right, mister Lawyer man?”  
“Exactly. Well, no. Usually the police have a few days of investigating, questioning, forensics… But we’re only working with half of that, and one of us is trying to sabotage everything. Luckily, it’s a pretty confined area, so we should be okay.”  
“First time being on this side of the cops… Lookin’ forward to it!” Ellen grinned. _I don’t expect much from them, but it’ll be best to split everyone up as much as possible. We have allot of ground to cover._

“Okay. Speaking of forensics. Julia, you’re probably the best we have for this.” As I looked over, I saw the shade of green she’d turned upon seeing the body. _Dane’s body…_ I shoved the thought from my mind for the moment.  
“Y-Yeah. I should be… Okay. I’ll be okay.” She responded.  
“Cido, probably best you stay here with her. Just in case.”  
“Of course. I can help take care of May, if that’s okay.” May made an affirming noise, and Cido nodded. “Very well, then. Leave it to me.”

“And as for our last four… Dani, Jane, Francie and Angelo. You’re on Alibis. I want to know where everyone was, what people saw, and most importantly--”

\--

“...It’s important that we know how the victim got here.” Dane concluded. “That tells us allot.”  
“How so?” I asked. “Anything outside this room won’t change who killed him, right?”  
“It gives us a motive, if nothing else. If they parked outside, we know they were comfortable coming in the front. If they came in through an open window on the other side of the building, we know he was looking for something. If they were looking for something--”  
“Then the killer might be trying to hide something.” I nodded. Dane took a deep breath.  
“Alright, well, you’re free to tag along. I’ll let the forensics team deal with this room.” Dane turned for the door.  
“Huh? Where are we going?” I asked.  
“Where else? We need to ask him why he was here, and I doubt he’ll be telling us. Let’s go visit his home.”

\--  
“...We should check out their room.” I answered. Jack nodded as we stepped out of the room. “They came here for a reason. Until the alibi team works it out, we need all the info we can get.”  
“Like the Monokuma file?” Monokuma asked.  
“Yeah, the- Wait. What?” We stopped in our tracks as Monokuma entered our vision. Three of the smaller kumas- two black and one white- handed us a small SD card, which Dymo promptly inserted to his Monopad.  
“Puhuhu, don’t say I never do anything nice! That there includes precious details about the death of the dear ace defective, Dane Brindle!” the bear’s words were lined with a joyous malice, taking pleasure in joking about the death that had occurred.

_…  
If I let him get to me, I won't be able to solve this. I have to ignore him. I'll cry about it later._  
“Thanks. So it’s the forensics report.” I took a look on my monopad. “Time of death, 3:30am. Cause of death, single stab wound. Defensive wounds from a bladed weapon. Death was instantaneous. Nothing we don’t already know, then.”  
“Aww… You're so meaaaaaaaaaaan, Sammie… I guess Dane isn’t the only one who’s heart isn’t working!” Monokuma whined.  
Jack sighed and stepped forward. “Hey. Asshole. If you don't have anything useful, move. I got a game to win.”  
“Hm? You’re really that excited to start?” Monokuma looked up, instantly snapping out of his faux sadness.  
“‘Course, how could I not be? I already know who the killer is.” Jack grinned, moving his hands behind his head casually. _He's trying to throw me off by acting like his normal smug self. Too late, Jack._  
“Wha-wha-whaaaaaa?” Monokuma gave a shocked reaction, which was probably fake. I gave Jack a suspicious glance, and saw Dymo, looking at him with a similarly shocked expression.  
“Uh… That’s a bluff, right? Putting that Ultimate Talent to use?” he asked, highlighting the last part with nervous finger guns.  
“Nope! One of us is lying, right? Right. Well, I can read everyone here like a book. You're all terrible liars.”  
“That’s… Totally cheating, right?” Dymo looked to where Monokuma was, but he had vanished. “Hey! Asshole… Okay, so, who is it?”  
“Hey, I can’t just tell you. We’ve gotta prove all this later. I doubt ‘I read your mind’ is gonna stand up in trial.”  
“Yeah, but…”  
“He could also be the killer, remember.” I interjected.  
“Hey--” Dymo began, but Jack just smiled.  
“He’s right. I could be. You’d love that, wouldn’t you, Libra?”  
"If you've done anything to hurt anyone here, I swear to fuck--"  
"What? You gonna punish me? Try it."  
“Guys- Mommy, daddy, stop fighting!” Dymo looked to the two of us. I smiled and turned away.  
“...To Dane’s room it is.” I said as I began leading the way.

As we arrived, the air was incredibly tense. Neither me nor Dymo had any reason to trust Jack, and in return he could already think one of us was the culprit. _Of course, I know better. We can both play this game, Jack. So long as I suspect you, you can't win._  
I stepped forwards and opened the door. I stepped over the threshold into Dane's room. The smell of smoke filled the air, and I saw a small bowl of various papers smouldering in the corner. _Dane's Notebook._ I ran forward to try and put it out, but the damage was already done. Whatever this was, it was little more than a pile of ash now.  
"...Someone beat us here." Dane said. "Unless, of course, the victim burnt these." They dipped their fingers in the ash. "It's cold. This was done way before the victim was killed."  
"Huh? How do you know?" I asked.  
"It must have occurred at least an hour ago, from the amount that's here and the temperature. The room itself is pretty cool, which adds some time on. But also, the ashes are incredibly fine. Either someone patted them out once they cooled, or it's been sitting here for a good... I'd estimate six hours, off the top of my head."

"...At least two hours, off the top of my head." I finished, typing the details in as I spoke.  
"All that from a pile of ash, huh? So, what's that tell us?" Dymo asked.  
"...Okay. Your name is Dane Brindle, the Ultimate Detective." I began.  
"Your name is Bradley Summers, an english major." Dane began.  
"Someone attacks you thirty feet from your room."  
"You're on someone's shitlist, you're scared."  
"You have information on everyone in this building, and someone wants to keep you quiet."  
"So, you need information. Leverage."  
"What do you do?" We continued.  
"Burn your notebook!" Dymo chimed in.  
"Exactly." I replied. "But don't forget who you are. Your memory is excellent, and you're sharp. You can figure out who attacked you. Everyone else is probably setting up to catch the bastard, so you try to lure them out."

"...So, something went wrong, and the killer ended up not being caught. Wait, but, how did Dane get out without anyone noticing?" Dymo asked.  
"...That's a good question. We had people on guard duty for the night, so it should've been impossible to slip past." I replied.  
"Unless the guard was absent? Or the one that chased her into the games room?"  
"Hey, check this." Jack called from Dane's desk. "A letter." I walked over, and instantly recognised Dane's handwriting. 'In the case of my death' was written across the front of the envelope. I leant forwards and opened it up.

**So. First to die. Not how I wanted this to go.**

**Unless I broke a rule by accident, one of you fifteen killed me, so... Fuck you, I guess. To everyone else, please, find the truth of this matter. I don't care how uncomfortable it is, above all else, you must all survive.**

**I've never been good with people. Solving mysteries has been my only connection on the outside, so in truth, life here has been exactly as normal for me.**

**Children, gang members, terrorists... I've seen it all. Nothing could really phase me at this point. I would've loved to stay to help you all through this, but that won't happen anymore. Maybe it would have been too easy.**

**I just hope that we can break out of the usual Danganronpa tropes. If we can change the way things happen in this game, throw Monokuma off his rhythm, maybe we can get out of here earlier than expected.**

**Don't forget your real opponent. Don't lose hope. Don't stop fighting. Find the truth, walk every road, and break the mastermind before he breaks you.**

**Everything is in your hands now. Good luck. -Dane Brindle**  
\-----------------------------  
Hey all! 2020, huh? A lot happening. The perfect climate for a Danganronpa.  
I’ll be trying to update this a lot more now that I’m done with Uni, so be on the lookout! As always, let me know of any theories in the comments- I’d love to see when people figure this one out! :)  
For the investigation I'll be intersplicing a murder from the past, to provide some context as to Sam's thought process. I may also dedicate a page to the various truth bullets acquired during the investigation, in case anything's unclear.

Sincerely,  
Jorryn.


	12. Despair Roulette/Hopeful Strategy Page 12: Investigation 2/3

[Truth Bullet Added: Dane’s Letter]  
We looked at each other as we passed around Dane’s note. Nobody spoke for an eternity as Dymo read, the last of us to finish. Jack was the first to break the silence.  
“...It’s up to us, then.” He said. “We have to play Monokuma’s game. That’s what they were saying.”  
“This isn’t a game!” I retorted. “Dane is dead. They’ll never walk or talk or solve mysteries again. No last words. No rematch. No respawn. This is--”  
“It’s a game.” Jack cut in, moving closer. I became aware of how fast my heart was beating. “It’s a game, and it’s real. Real life, real death, real chaos, with a real prize. And Dane knew that when they wrote this note.”  
He spoke carefully, each step in his sentence considered carefully. What I found particularly amazing was that Jack never shouted, not once. The same, level tone, dripping with anger, sure, narrated every inch of his emotions.  
“And you know why they wrote it? Because we have to win. We are going to win.” He leaned in, we were almost touching, I could feel his breath on my face. “I am going to win.”  
We both turned as we heard a click, stepping away. Dymo. I said nothing as I left the room.

“...What the fuck… What the fuck… I didn’t sign up for this shit…” Dymo was panting outside of Dane’s room. “I can’t...What the _FUCK!_ ”  
“...Dymo? You okay, bud?” Jack asked as he stepped out of the room behind me, his voice infinitely softer than five seconds ago. Dymo didn’t respond for a second, he just kept breathing heavily. Eventually, he managed to speak.  
“You two… You’re debating philosophy or some shit… I just saw my first dead body and read their last words. We have…” Dymo counted on the clock. It seemed to help calm his breathing for a second. “...Two hours to figure out who the killer is, then a trial, then we might all die. What. The. FUCK.”  
“I… Thought you knew how this game works?”  
“Yeah! But hitting buttons behind a screen with little anime faces looking all sad is a little different to, you know, the weirdo who was leading you being stabbed through the heart!” Dymo ran a hand through his hair. “I’m _sorry_ if it’s _inconvenient_ to your investigation, but… Can you two stop hate-fucking for two minutes? Please? I really need to breathe inbetween horrible shit.”  
Jack and I looked at each other. I wanted to hold his execution as soon as possible. He wants the same for me, no doubt. _It’s in both of our best interests to act civil, if just to speed things up. Besides…_ I looked over to Dymo and decided.  
“Okay. We have everything we need from here. If you need a minute, I can make some coffee, or tea. I want to check the lights outside, so I can slip out and do that while you two sit down.” I offered.  
“Go for it.” Jack said, immediately. “I’ll ask the other group to check, too, in case you feel the need to lie. I’ll come check on you in a minute. Sound good, Dymo?”  
“...Yeah. Sure.” Dymo moved and sat down at the table.

…  
A thirty second timer. The lights went out after thirty seconds. I checked again. Thirty seconds.  
…  
I thought back to Dymo, and that case. _I had been the same as Dymo, to be fair to him. I tried to keep it hidden, for Dane’s sake, but…_ I sighed.

_  
“I can’t. I’m sorry. This is… If I have to deal with this to get into Hope’s Peak, then I’ll just go somewhere else.” I was shaking as we stood on the bench outside. The Pleasant Skull was a pub in east Goldstead, where we were investigating, Dane had brought me there for a drink to calm down.  
It didn’t work.  
“Hey, don’t worry. This happens.” Dane smiled. “It’s your first case. You couldn’t be expected to--”  
“But I am expected to!” I cut in, scratching at my arms as I looked around. “I just… That was a person, you know? He had a job. A life. Friends.”  
“And so do you.” Dane reassured me. They placed a hand on my shoulder. “Listen. If you’re not up to do all of this, that’s fine. These gangsters we’re dealing with… I wouldn’t want to be the rookie here either. I can give you the details later.”  
“I… I need to be more active than that for Hope’s Peak. Bliss was more than clear about that. I can’t just ride your coattails to court.”  
“Well, do you know anyone else who can stand in for you?” Dane asked. “I’ll give you some reading for your break, and you can have someone else as your eyes and ears. Calling to give you updates.”  
I took a breath, standing up to clear my head. “I… I know a guy.”  
And those were the words that killed Dane.  
_

“...Thirty seconds exactly, huh?” A voice from behind me called. Dymo. “Okay. I’m good. I’m fine. I know where we’re going. No, stop. Whatever you’re about to say, I’m fine. Let’s go. Follow me.” I closed my mouth and followed behind him.  
“...Here it is. The fencing room.” he announced, as he walked through the north corridor. “Came here the other day with Sanae. And if I’m right, we’ll find something interesting.”  
“Alright. We still need to talk to some folks--” I began, as Jamie, Ellen and Windy walked in.  
“Oh, uh…” Jamie began.  
“Heya, Clubbie!” Ellen beamed.  
“Clubbie?” I raised an eyebrow at Jack.  
“Hello. You guys looking here too?” Jack asked.  
“Yeah. We can come back-” Jamie began.  
“Nah, wanted to talk to you guys anyways. Libra, you mind taking the reins on that?” Jack asked.  
“Okay. Dymo, I leave him in your hands.”  
“I’ll try not to lose him.” Dymo rolled his eyes as he turned, walking towards a wall, as Jack followed.

“Okay, one at a time. Jamie. What happened after I left? Most importantly, how did Dane get to… the scene?” I asked. _Not too formal. Nice and smiley. Gentle._ I could hear the Cross-Examination music from a famous lawyer video game in the back of my mind.  
“Well… We took Dane back to her-” he took the glare from Windy- “their room, then set up shifts to watch the kitchen. Just in case.  
First couple hours, no problem. Then I went to bed.  
I knocked on Dane’s door, about 10pm, and offered them a drink. They declined, said they had some work to get done.  
We said goodnight, and six hours later…” Jamie’s lips tightened for a second. He looked like he was going to continue, but said nothing.  
“And when you checked on Dane, what were they doing?” I asked.  
“They were reading their notebook, and translating a few notes over. I didn’t get a good look at the words.”  
“Was it allot?” I asked.  
“Eh. Had a couple sheets of paper out, but not too much.” I nodded, taking all of this down.  
[Truth Bullet Added: Jamie’s Testimony]

“Alright, Ellie. Tell me something, as the Ultimate Thief.”  
“Oh, sure sure!” Ellen replied.  
“I have two instances of items being stolen here. The first, Sanae’s Katana. The second, Dane’s notebook. They were really personal items, and were both stolen before the incident. What are your thoughts?”  
“Hm… Well, Sanae is the hard one there. You can’t talk to him, you can barely leave him a note… It’d be hard to draw him out. You’d have to take it while he was sleeping. But then, I imagine he’d lock the doors, so you’d need to be able to pick the lock. No problem for me, of course!” She grinned, seemingly not realizing how much that implicated her.  
“So, you could pick the locks on the bedroom doors?” I pressed.  
“Oh sure. The locks are-- Okay, uh, how to say this. There’s allot of locks, with allot of combinations of defenses…” She pulled open the door to illustrate. “This one, allot of points where it locks in, so you couldn’t force it. But only about four pins, so it’s not too hard to pick the lock itself. In the bedrooms, though, a simple credit card or screwdriver would probably do the trick. Anyone who’s watched TV could do it.”  
“And Dane?” I asked.  
“Same story, varied results. Could just pick their pocket, if you know where it’s stored. Could just pick the lock, but I don’t think they ever sleep. In either case, you could just ask to borrow it.”  
“What do you mean?”  
“Well, Dane had their book at 10PM, so it must have happened in those six hours, right? Easy enough to just not return it.”  
“And Sanae?” I asked, but Ellen just pointed.

\---

“See? Exactly like Sanae’s.” I grinned. Nailed it. “When I was here a couple days ago, there were six. Now there’s three.” I turned and looked up at Jack. He seemed happy, I think. I can never read that guy. “Same design, and the blade is all straight.” _Unlike me._ I rolled my eyes at myself, and continued. “But, can’t say this is what I expected… Why are there three missing?”  
“It’s tough to say.” The grizzled, low tones of Jack’s voice gave the impression he was thinking. “...I have a theory, once we go back. Actually, why not let the others waste their time with that? Jamie! The other two!” he walked over, and leant in, whispering to them. They nodded as he returned.  
“...You gonna tell me, Jackie?”  
“My name isn’t Jackie, or Clubbie, or whatever you all keep calling me.”  
“That didn’t sound like a no. What are you thinking?”  
“Oh, it didn’t?” Jack turned his attention to the katanas. “...Oh, that’s clever. Bastard.”  
I let out a sigh and looked over to Sam, who was typing away at his notepad. _I guess I could do the same… Nah, I’m sure I’ll remember._ “So, who’s the killer at this point? Vague direction?” I asked.  
“If I just tell you straight out, you’ll be stuck thinking it the whole trial. I need you sharp.” He said, pulling a katana from its sheath. “...Sanae is a wildcard. Anyone from Libra’s side of the school could have used that room. And Ellen… Well, I can’t reveal that if it’s not relevant, but…”

“Actually, she’s not allowed to use that.” Came a voice from behind. My curiosity got the better of me and I turned. I felt Jack sigh next to me. “Puhuhu, sorry, but the **thing** you were thinking about is off-limits for any murder!” Monokuma declared.  
“Huh?” I looked between the two.  
“I figured as much.” Jack sighed. “Do you have anything useful?”  
“I just thought, since I’m the _super amazing_ headmaster that I am, that I’d remind you all that you only have thirty minutes--gwaaa!” Monokuma stopped talking as Jack pointed the katana at him. “H-Hey now! I only have a million of these bodies!”  
“And you’ll have a million less if you don’t fuck off.” My heart skipped a beat as Jack stared Monokuma down.  
“...Puhuhu, awww, you think I’ll fall for a bluff like that? Jeez, Oliver, show some respect.” Monokuma leant into that word, “oliver”, so hard that Jack cringed. He looked like he wasn’t sure who to stab; Monokuma or himself. Then he turned to me.  
“...We never speak of what you just heard. Got it?” Jack asked me. I looked at the very long sword he still had out.  
“...Yeah. Sounds good.” He sheathed his sword I spoke, and I released the breath I had been holding.  
“Puhuhu, anyways, you have twenty minutes to conclude your investigation! Then, please meet in the main hall for your first class trial!” And with that, monokuma disappeared.

\--

“...Okay, that should be enough from here.” I declared, typing the details we had just learnt into my monopad.  
[Truth Bullets Collected: Windy’s Testimony, Missing Katanas]  
[Current Truth Bullets: The Monokuma File, Signs of a Struggle, Fight Timeframe, Murder Weapon, Locked Door, Burnt Notebook, Dane’s Letter, Jamie’s Testimony, Ellen’s Testimony, Windy’s Testimony, Missing Katanas]  
“...I have a mountain of evidence right now, but none of it particularly points anywhere. I think we should talk to the others now.” I looked across at everyone.  
“Yeah, we did that to start with. So we need to check Dane’s room, and run that little errand, right Gambler?” Jamie asked.  
“Right.” Jack replied.  
“Will you _please_ just tell us what you’re doing?” Dymo asked, a note of frustration in his voice.  
“Nope! It’s more fun this way, don’tcha think?” Ellen replied, grinning. Dymo sighed.  
“I hate it, but we don’t have time. Twenty minutes to gather what we can, then the trial.

Everyone, let’s move out.”

\--------------------------------------------------  
Well, I didn’t want to split the investigation in three, but this was getting pretty long.  
I hope some of you have a vague idea who you think the killer is at this point, even if it hasn’t been super clear. Next chapter will tie up the investigation, so that’s the deadline for being able to say “I called it!” Beyond that, it’s cheating ;)  
Will you make the right choice? Or the dreadfully wrong one?  
Let me know below!

Sincerely,  
Jorryn


End file.
